


Honor Bound

by StarvingLunatic



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Geisha, Alternate Universe - Historical, Anime Cliches, Attempted Coup d'Etat, Disguise, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fights, Government, Gratuitous Japanese, Japanese Culture, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Lesbian Sex, Martial Arts, Ninja, Nobility, Novel, Romance, Samurai, Sexual Content, Undercover, Wordcount: Over 100.000, Wordcount: Over 150.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-28
Updated: 2007-04-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 10:29:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 190,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5001259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Set in Japan during the Tokugawa era. Director Betty recruits samurai Kim and ninja Yori for a job to find out about a plot to overthrow the government. The job: go undercover as geisha. Kigo. RonYori.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Into the Fox’s Den

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own these characters, as you probably know. Disney does.
> 
> A/N: okay, this story is gonna be rather tricky and there are a few things I suppose I should warn anyone trying to read it about. It’s supposed to be set in the Tokugawa era of Japan (1600-1867), which I will admit to knowing general information on, but then I also had to make the KP universe fit into that world. In short, give the thing a chance before never looking at it again. 
> 
> Another thing, any characters that lacked a name, be it first or last name, in the show, I’m giving a Japanese name, but characters that have a name in the show will keep that name. I’m hoping to avoid confusion.
> 
> This is also going to be a KiGo, which should be expected. Run if you don’t like KiGo. Also a bit of Ron and Yori love. Eventually, there will be some sexual content. I hope you enjoy.

Honor Bound

Cover by [YogurthFrost](http://yogurthfrost.deviantart.com/) (named: [a time to share](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/A-time-to-share-45449713))

1: Into the Fox’s Den 

Director Betty sighed; she could not believe she was at _this_ manor yet again. There was actually nothing wrong with her being there, but it bothered her all the same that she was there yet again. There was something about her having to come and recruit someone for a job when she had so many people at her disposal that rubbed her the wrong way. It was just that those people were not the same because they just were not _this_ person. Even though she was not so certain _this_ person would even be able to do what she needed her to do, but she had to chance it. 

She also did not like coming to the manor because the family that lived there was… well… for lack of a better term, strange. Now, she was used to eccentric people. She came from an eccentric clan herself, but she believed they paled in comparison to this clan. She would rather not think about it, but it was kind of hard not think about it when she entered the manor.

“Stop trying to distract yourself and get on with it,” she muttered to keep pushing herself forward, her steps quiet on the stone pathway leading to the house.

She always expected to see the twins in the front yard when she entered the gates, getting into some kind of trouble, but they were not there this time. The grass was probably appreciative of their absence considering some of the things those boys enjoyed doing in their spare time. Sometimes, the pair would be out there, seeming almost normal, like playing with a ball. But, most of the time, they would be out there, showing they had been born into the proper clan and injuring the grass, along with themselves a great deal of the time, typically with projectiles and fire. She supposed it was a good thing their mother was a doctor.

The boys seemed to take after their father, Possible James. Though their father had been born into the samurai class, he was more into doing engineering projects than anything else, making him very useful and therefore very much liked by the Shogun. Having the Shogun’s favor helped keep the family name in high prestige.

The boys were into building, too, and often made chahakobi-ningyou (tea-serving dolls) or other toys for the elite classes to play with. But, their real passion seemed to lie in fireworks and that was how they tended to hurt the front yard more often than not. She had heard they were great to have around for festivals and celebrations, if not a little dangerous to have around, too. She was actually surprised they had not burned down the villa yet.

The boys’ father actually designed fireworks in his spare time, which was also useful to the Shogun for popular festivals and other things. He was a very educated gentleman and the things he built were nothing short of amazing. Sometimes, he even made things she made use of. He was still an odd fellow, though.

She thought it was peculiar that out of everyone in such a well-known samurai family, there was only one real, practicing samurai among them, as far as martial arts went anyway. And that one warrior was unbelievable, to a _disturbing_ extent.

She supposed it was unfair of her to consider the warrior disturbing. After all, she was certain there were whispers about her when she left a room that she was equally disturbing for many of the same reasons, even though she did not think she was so strange. Still, she thought it was telling for her to consider someone creepy considering who she was, not to mention the people she dealt with on a daily basis.

She was drawn out of her thoughts as the mistress of the manor greeted her. Another weird thing about the family was that they were samurai nobles, but they did not have any servants. It was not that they could not afford any, but they did not seem to want any. They seemed to like doing things on their own.

“Ohayo gozaimasu (good morning), Possible-sensei (1),” she greeted the mistress of the manor with a light bow.

“Ohayo gozaimasu, Director-sama (2),” the redhead replied with a bright smile, bowing slightly as well.

Betty returned the smile, but it was a forced expression. She did not have anything against Ann, also known as Possible-sensei. There was just something about the woman that was a little, well, off. Betty was not sure if that was due to the family Ann had married into or if she had always been like that. She suspected Ann just seemed odd because of the family that she married into because Betty doubted anyone could measure up to the Possible strangeness without already being in the clan or having spent a lot of time around them.

“Please, come in,” Ann said to Betty, motioning into the front room of the dwelling, the wide sleeve of her kimono swaying slightly.

Betty obliged and removed her zori (sandals) to enter the Possible home, her feet making no noise as they touched the wooden floor. They went through the standard things done by a host with Ann offering her food, drink, and the redhead being hospitable toward her guest by asking if there was anything at all that the one-eyed woman wanted. Betty declined because she was not there for a social call.

“No, I appreciate the offers, but I’m here for business,” Betty explained, rather unnecessarily.

Ann nodded, knowing the routine. It was business as usual, as it always was. Betty would never come to the Possible villa for anything other than business. Not many people would go to the Possible home for anything more than business, even though they were all rather friendly people.

She had always heard the entire Possible clan was rather strange, but she had not met the whole clan to pass any judgments. She had met enough to know they were… different and she was being kind by putting it that way in many people’s opinions. Ann was in that category of “different,” even though she seemed like a nice enough woman.

“Maybe one, things will be different,” Ann commented, politely, but there was something in her eyes. It was like a spark, as if she knew things Betty would never know and it actually made Betty a little uneasy. The look reminded Betty of the whispers about Ann.

There were rumors going around that Ann was either the daughter of a fox spirit or she was a fox spirit. Betty would like to say she did not believe in such nonsense, but it would explain some things if Ann were the child of a fox spirit or a fox herself. It would clear up why she was decidedly different. And, sometimes, when she smirked… well, it just seemed like there was something more than human behind those eyes. Still some of things said about the redheaded doctor were a little outlandish.

Betty was not sure what started the rumor, but she guessed it either had to do with the fact that Ann’s hair was the color of a fox’s fur or because people could not figure out what the woman was doing married to her husband. It was suspicious that a woman like Ann was with a guy like James, so people thought maybe she was a fox playing a trick. If she was playing a trick, it had the longest punch line of all time considering they had been together for seventeen years now. Was any prank worth that much time, even if one was an immortal?

If the marriage was not a trick, it was still used to support the fact that she might be a fox. Many people seemed to think she was _too_ devoted to her husband, which was not something Betty could understand. She was not sure what “too devoted” meant, especially when it was between a husband and wife that cared about each other. When people started saying things like that, it just showed her that they had too much time on their hands and they needed to go do something with their lives.

Betty silently admitted she was curious how Ann was still sane living with a man like James. Yes, he was brilliant man, but he did not seem to be quite right in his head. Betty thought prolonged exposure to him should lead to madness. His children were quite mad, after all. Well, the twins were anyway.

“So, how is everything, Possible-sensei?” Betty inquired, if only to stop thinking about being in the presence of a fox spirit. She did not want to come right out and say why she was there for some reason, even though they both knew why she was there. It just seemed rude.

“Everything is fine,” Ann answered with a demure smile.

“I noticed your husband isn’t around,” Betty commented to make conversation.

“He took the boys out. How’s everything with you?” Ann asked courteously. She knew she was not going to get the true answer. She often suspected she did not want to know what went on in Betty’s life. She actually did not even know what Betty truly did. She just had a vague idea, which was all the brown-haired warrior wanted her to have.

“Fine,” Betty lied, as expected.

“She’s where she always is when you come by. Creature of habit and all,” Ann remarked with a fond smile, motioning ahead of them.

“She’s a creature of habit?” Betty inquired incredulously.

Ann only laughed. She supposed it was a bit misleading to call her a creature of habit. She guessed that it was actually just wrong to label her at all. There was no accurate label for her, except maybe “Possible.”

Betty did not say anything after that question. There was no need to pretend, especially since Ann knew why she was there. So, she left to go find the only practicing samurai left in what had been a rather famous samurai line. _Perhaps her offspring will be the ones to revive the true warrior spirit in the Possible family, but I doubt I’ll know for some years now_. She went out to the back of the manor and found Kim where she always was for some reason, working out on plum flower poles.

Kim had a vast collection plum flower poles of varying heights, which were usually found at training schools on the continent, but Kim had some right in her home. They were set up in a space in the garden of the manor. There was actually a whole area in the garden just for her to do her exercises. She worked out on her plum flower poles everyday, which was also odd. She was a samurai, so most people would expect her to train with her katana everyday rather, but Kim had to be a strange sort of samurai. Betty suspected it was because Kim was a Possible.

Kim was a samurai who acted like a ninja, some of the teen’s friends said. They were not too sure what kind of warrior to label her as, so they just threw anything at her. They probably only referred to her as a samurai because she carried around the necessary swords of her class. If there was no class code, they would have no idea what Kim was when it came to combat.

Betty watched the young lady for a moment. Kim moved easily from pole to pole while working with a jian (3) of all swords. Leave it to Kim to combine training she should not even be doing. It was all right for the redhead to be working on the plum flower poles because at least it worked on her balance, but Betty could not see the point of the girl working with the jian.

Kim was the reason Betty was willing to believe Ann might be a kitsune (fox) or at least the offspring of one. Kim was an incredible person, even for _this_ family line. She could do some extraordinary things, more so than almost anyone Betty had ever met. Something had to be in that girl’s blood aside from what was in most regular humans, so it would make sense that her mother was a fox spirit.

There was the rumor going around among younger people that Kim herself was the fox of the family. They even claimed she turned into a fox a few times right in front of them. Betty had never seen such a thing and she really did not want to if it was the truth. She knew enough about the girl to last a couple of lifetimes.

“Kim-dono (4),” Betty called to get the teen’s attention. She addressed the younger female with respect because she did respect the girl and she also required Kim’s help, so she was going to be as polite as possible. Kim was probably the only person that got her polite side when she required assistance. Others were just ordered around.

The redheaded teenager turned at the sound of her name, but she made sure to stay on the one plum flower pole she stood on. She held the jian pointing forward and stood on one leg, as if she was still in the motions of her practice. And then she noticed who had come to pay her a visit.

“Director-sama,” Kim greeted the older woman with a pleasant smile.

“Spare a minute?” Betty requested, even though it was more an order. It was just that Kim would never think to turn her down, so she made it sound like she was requesting something of the girl.

“Of course.”

Kim leaped off of the plum flower pole as if it was something she did everyday, which it was. She landed with ease on the ground. She also sheathed her jian in its scabbard, which was on her back. She then bowed slightly to greet Betty properly. Betty bowed slightly, too.

“Since when do you work with a straight sword?” the one-eyed woman inquired, nodding to the weapon on her back.

Kim shrugged a little. “For a while now. I’m trying to get a better feel for it, just in case I ever run into an opponent that wields on. I want to understand the sword enough to be able to hold my ground against it and defeat it if necessary.”

“That’s a good plan. You’re always thinking about ways to improve,” Betty commented and from what she could tell, that was the truth all around. Whatever Kim did, no matter how well she did it, the teen seemed to always want to get better.

“Well, I do want to make it home from any mission I get, so I need to improve,” Kim replied.

Betty nodded to that line of reasoning. Kim was always thinking ahead, which was what made her a fantastic warrior and which more than likely assured why she did make it home from every mission that she had. Kim was rather like a manuscript of fighting and weapons techniques as well as strategies, which was why her friends were not sure what to call her when it came to combat. Her ability to learn, adjust, and adapt would serve her well for what Betty needed her to do.

“So, are you here to give me a new mission or checking on your nephew’s betrothed?” Kim asked with a smile.

The one-eyed woman did not bother to answer because Kim knew the answer. Kim was set to marry Betty’s nephew, Will. He was the son of Betty’s younger sister. While Betty cared about Will a great deal, she never went to the Possible home to check on the woman he was supposed to marry. It was not that she did not care about the setup, but she was too busy and she knew there was no need to check on Kim.

While Kim was strange girl, possibly the daughter of a fox spirit, she was still quite the proper young woman. She knew how to handle herself as a lady when the time called for it, just like she knew how to handle herself as a warrior when the time called for that. It was going to be a grand thing when their families united under the marriage between Kim and Will. She just hoped Will could handle being married to a girl he looked at more as a rival than as a woman. Betty would actually be surprised if Will knew Kim was female… and if he understood what it would mean to be married to her.

“How is Will-san?” Kim asked, adding the honorific just because she was respectful.

Betty waved the question off, as they both knew Kim did not care about how Will was. “He’s fine,” she said just go through the motions of polite conversation.

Kim and Will. They were almost funny to think about as a couple, funny in an almost tragic sense. Whenever they were near each other, they seemed out to prove something. Will was trying to prove Kim was inferior to him and he was not even looking to do it because she was woman. He was just looking to do it because whenever she was around, he perceived she was trying to do his job better than he could. He disliked being shown up by anyone, but now especially by Kim because she did it time and time again. Making matters worse, people seemed to think she was superior to Will and he hated when people praised her when he was around.

Kim always seemed out to prove she was either Will’s equal or better than he was. She wanted him to accept it. She wanted him to respect her because she felt that she deserved respect from any and everyone. She could do anything he could do and he needed to learn that as far as she was concerned. He was not special in her eyes and he did not seem to know how to handle that, except by making her beneath him in his eyes.

When the teens finally did get married, they would surely be quite a couple to watch. They might actually need some serious supervision considering the fact that they had gotten into sword fights a few times throughout their lives and if they were not getting into sword fights, it was fists fights. They fought with each other as if they were enemies more than anything else. Betty would not be surprised if one of them died and that was how the marriage would be ended. All she could wonder was how long it would take for things to come to that. She also wondered if they would even bother to make it look like an accident.

In fact, one of the reasons Kim and Will had not been married yet was because their families were scared to leave them alone in a room. Really, who knew what might happen. They figured they would wait for Kim and Will to grow out of their “petty” differences and then have them get married.

Will and Kim did not see their differences as “petty.” Their differences were massive as all outside as far as they were concerned and could only be conquered by Will acknowledging Kim as an equal in the redhead’s opinion. For Will, the only way things could be worked out was if Kim yielded that she was inferior to him and she would cease her pretense of being a warrior. Either of those options might take a while… like several lifetimes.

“I’m here for business, Kim-dono,” Betty informed the redhead.

“All right. Do you want tea?” Kim offered, even though she was pretty certain her mother had already made the same proposal. Her mother always did, after all.

“No, your mother already offered,” the one-eyed woman answered.

“All right. Shall we talk out here or do you want to go inside?” Kim asked, glancing over at the house.

“Perhaps I should let you get into some drier, cleaner clothes,” Betty replied.

Kim nodded in appreciation of suggestion. Her clothing, a pair of black hakama (wide-legged pants), which were tied up with her zori straps, and a light, white yukata (informal summer kimono), were drenched in sweat. She had been working out since her brothers left, which was hours ago. With her brothers gone, she would not have to worry about them play tricks on her while she was trying to train herself. She wished her father took those two out everyday.

“I’ll only be a moment,” Kim said before turning away.

Betty waited in the garden while Kim went to clean herself up. The redhead trotted off, grabbing her katanas, which were close by as they always were. The teen never let those weapons out of her sight. Kim had an odd habit of carrying three swords instead of the two swords mandatory of someone of her class. She had two long swords and one short sword. One of the long swords, Betty had never seen the girl draw from the scabbard. She was fairly certain no one had ever witnessed Kim pull that one, which was held in a white sheath while the other weapons were kept in red covers.

With time on her hands, the one-eyed woman allowed her mind to wander and she wondered about the katana Kim never allowed to leave its case. She was not the only one who wondered. Anyone who knew Kim, especially fellow warriors, wondered why she had a sword she never used. People asked her about it on occasion, but Kim never really gave a straight answer. Sometimes, she would just shrug, as if she did not know why she never used the blade.

No one knew what to think about Kim never using one of her swords. They knew she could use her katana as well as anyone else. After all, they had seen her fight countless times. But, because of the the sword was always on her hip and never out of the scabbard, rumors sprang up about the blade just like rumors sprang up about the sword’s owner.

Some of the funnier ones claimed that there was no blade in the scabbard. Apparently, some people were ready to believe that Kim was walking around with the hilt and hand guard of a sword for no reason. While she was a strange girl, she took being a samurai very seriously and would never just walk around with an empty saya (scabbard) especially if she knew how ridiculous it looked for her to have the three swords on her small waist.

Judging by the length of the scabbard, the sheathed sword might have just been too long for Kim to wield properly. Betty suspected that was the reason the weapon was never drawn, but it was probably a family heirloom and Kim carried it around for guidance from her ancestors or luck or anything along those lines. But then again, there was always a chance the sword in the scabbard was not as long as the cover was, which would blow her theory out of the water.

She would not put it past Kim to have a short sword hidden in the saya of her long sword, but still that did not explain why she never drew the weapon. Some people speculated the sword had some kind of magic or power or something else. Things like that made people attempt to steal the weapon, but no one had succeeded in doing such a thing yet.

Kim was very protective of the unused sword, which was another reason Betty suspected that it was a family heirloom. The usually friendly teen often lost her temper if anyone so much as reached for the weapon. She refused to let anyone hold it, or touch it, and she was known to chastise anyone for even looking at the sword, even those who outranked her. Now, Betty understood a sword was never just a sword to a samurai, but Kim did not act the same with it came to her other swords.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Kim apologized as she returned to the garden, looking refreshed and neat. She now had on red hakama with a pink kimono. She bowed to add to her apology and show it was genuine.

Betty waved the words off. “It’s quite all right. I’d rather wait than for you to stand here uncomfortably filthy.” It would not do to trivialize anything about Kim right now when she was about to ask a favor of the girl.

“Well, thank you, ma’am. So, since you’re not here to check on me, I’m guessing I’ve got a mission to uphold,” Kim said.

The older warrior only nodded. She sometimes wondered if Kim thought she was just using the little redhead since she only came by for missions, even though someday soon they would be family. Kim was always polite and full of smiles, like the rest of her family, but she was a little less naïve than the rest of her family, having seen a lot in her short life. So, sometimes, Betty wondered if behind those olive eyes if Kim was actually cursing her for treating her like a tool rather than a future niece.

“I’ve been led to believe that a daimyo (samurai lord) is trying to hatch a scheme to take over the government,” Betty started.

“Another one?” Kim sighed, her shoulders slumping. It seemed like every week someone was trying to overthrow the Shogunate. Were people really that bored?

Betty understood the reaction. “Yes, another one. He’s right here in Edo as we speak plotting such a thing.”

Kim nodded for a moment. “Wait a second, if he’s right here in the city, what do you need me for?” she asked, pointing to herself. At this point, the Shogun’s warriors should have picked the guy up and moved on.

It seemed to Kim that Betty really had no use for her. The scoundrel attempting to overthrow the government was right in the Shogun’s front yard, which pretty much made the fellow right in Betty’s hands, which should have made him practically crucified already. As far as Kim was concerned, they should not even be having this conversation.

“I need more than hearsay that this plan is going to be executed. It’s a very delicate operation because of the parties involved,” Betty said and she noticed Kim was going to ask another question, so she stopped the teen. “I need you to gather this information for me to prove this lord is trying to take over the government,” the one-eyed woman explained.

“Well, I shall do my part. All you need do is tell me,” Kim replied.

“I expected as much from you, Kim-dono,” the elder female said in sort of a praising tone.

Kim was always ready to help, especially if she believed that she was doing the right thing. Betty was glad that the olive-eyed girl was like that since the teen was highly competent. She wished that the redhead would join her staff. But then again, with Kim on her team, Will would blow him top and it would lead to a mess that she did not even want to think about.

“I need you to do some undercover work. Do you think you could handle it?” Betty inquired.

“Anything’s possible for a Possible,” Kim answered in a confident tone. It was the family motto, even present on their family seal.

Kim’s one character flaw in Betty’s opinion was that the helpful teen had no humility. She jumped into anything, even before she knew what it was. She just swore she could do it, which was something that always put her at odds with Will. He seemed to resent she seemed to leap without looking and could actually do anything if her track record was any indication of her ability.

Now, Kim was ready to jump into doing undercover work, even though it was something she had never done before. Usually when Betty enlisted Kim’s aid, it was for her to track, contain, and return someone. The redhead was just about the fastest person with or without a horse and she had yet to let a fugitive escape. She was great for recovering people and goods.

Kim was also good for sending to help people in distress, but that was something the girl did more on her own. Something like that was not Betty’s affair. The point of the matter was that Kim was more an upfront and personal type agent to use and not accustomed to working subtly and undercover, especially in the manner that Betty wanted her for.

“All right, Kim-dono. If you think you’re up to this assignment, tell me now,” the one-eyed woman said.

“I am very much up for any assignment,” Kim declared while making a fist as a display of her strength and talent. She could do anything.

“Then I need you to go undercover as a geisha,” Betty stated and Kim’s expression dropped from one of confidence to one of utter disbelief as soon as the words reached her ears.

“Geisha?” the redhead echoed to make sure she heard right.

“Yes,” Betty confirmed. If she was a lesser soul, she certainly would be laughing at the girl’s expression right now. Perhaps Kim had just learned a valuable lesson — never agree to do something without knowing what that something was.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: things get weirder as Yori is recruited for this mission and you get to see who’s going to whip Kim and Yori into form.

-8-8-8-8-

1: -sensei: doctor (M.D), teacher, master, or title used when talking to people in certain professions.

2: -sama: formal Mr., Mrs., Ms. Or addressing someone of high ranking.

3: Jian: a straight sword that is meant to pierce and is light and maneuverable. Pretty much like the sword from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

4:-dono: last time I checked it was an honorific title for samurai or to express that you see someone as an equal out of respect. If I’m wrong, let me know.


	2. The Impossible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.
> 
> A/N: Awesome artwork for this story can be found [here](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077736/Honor-Bound-art). 

2: The Impossible 

“Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second,” Kim said, shaking her head.

Kim was obviously having trouble with what she just heard, mostly because of the task she just agreed to do. Director Betty, leader of the Shogun’s secret police, had just recruited her for a mission, which was nothing new. The new thing was that it required her to go undercover and she would have to pretend to be a _geisha_.

Kim held up her hand, still shaking her head. “You can’t be serious.” She was a samurai. She could _not_ be a geisha! 

“I’m very serious,” Betty insisted in her usual calm tone, which let the petite warrior know she was as serious as always. It was the only way she could be, after all.

“But, there are a lot of things wrong with that plan. So many things, actually. Don’t you have people that do stuff like this, anyway?” Kim inquired in a slightly desperate tone with a worried wrinkle in her brow. She would like to wiggle out of the predicament now if she could. She could not dishonor her family by even pretending to be a geisha.

A frown cut across Betty’s usually stoic face. “I’m stretched rather thin at the moment.”

Betty had lost a few agents recently to several incidents. If she had those agents, she certainly would not need or even think to ask Kim to do this mission. She only went to Kim because she believed the teen could pull it off. She had faith in Kim to do pretty much anything, even though she believed Kim was a bit weird _because_ the damned kid could do anything.

“You’re the only one I can trust with this at the moment,” Betty added, needing to keep Kim in this. Besides, her statement was true. Even if she could slap a wig on Will, she would not let him near this mission with a ten-foot pole.

The operation was more delicate than a flower arrangement and she preferred Kim handle it to any other agents she had left because they were far from subtle. No, Kim was not very subtle either, but she was willing to bet that was only because Kim had never been in a situation that required it. Kim would adapt, like she always did.

Betty also figured if anything went sideways, as things had a habit of doing recently, Kim would be able to get herself out of any trouble, as that seemed to be the teen’s habit, maybe even her _talent_. She hoped things did not come to that because lately her agents seemed to have a lot of bother getting out of situations gone wrong. Hell, she was beginning to think they might be incompetent or worse yet — _stupid_. She did not want something to happen to Kim. The girl was her future niece, after all.

“But… but… I don’t know how to be a geisha. Surely you have someone else who could this,” Kim argued, attempting to keep control of herself. She wanted to add plenty of wild hand and arm movements to get her point across, but she refrained due mostly to her noble upbringing.

A light sigh escaped Betty. “I wish I did. You’re the best person I have for this job, so it’s on you, Kim-dono.” She was aware that if she was patient and explained everything, Kim would cave in.

Betty was not sure why Kim would give in, but she knew the redhead would fold like a fan if enough time passed. She was not certain if the inevitable was due to what Kim’s best friend referred to as her “natural Kim-ness,” which was what made the girl competitive as hell and helped her believe she could do anything. Kim did not accept failure or that there was something in the world she could not do as well as anyone else.

Maybe the fact that Kim held an endless desire to help out whenever she could was the reason she would give in. Or maybe Kim would just end up curious and want to see if she could pull it off. Or perhaps there was just the fact that it seemed challenging. It could have always been a bit of all of those things. But, whatever it was, the girl was going to fall like an avalanche and stand by her impulsive agreement and the one-eyed woman knew that to be a fact.

“But, why is it on me? I don’t know anything about being a geisha,” Kim pointed out. She was a noble, a swordsman, an all around martial artist, and maybe even a bit of an acrobat. Mixing in any of those elements made her a poor candidate to be a geisha as far as she knew, not that she knew much about being a geisha.

“Should I go down the list as to why I’ve picked you for this job?” Betty asked the olive-eyed warrior.

“It might help,” Kim answered honestly because she wanted to know how it was possible for Betty to need an undercover agent for such a task and she suddenly came to mind. It was actually a little insulting. She was a samurai, after all.

“Well, let’s see, you’re pleasant to look at. You’re well read and well educated, so you’ll be able to keep up a conversation if necessary. You know how to carry yourself extremely well. You own several lovely kimonos for the task. And to top it all off, you play the shamisen (1),” the one-eyed woman explained.

“But…” Kim trailed off. She was not totally sure how to object about everything, but given a moment, she got her mind together. “Do you know what this would do to my family if they found out?” Of course Betty knew, but Kim needed to hear her justify this.

“Kim-dono, I’m not asking you to compromise yourself in any way. You’re engaged to my nephew, after all. I just need someone to be sitting in on the daimyo’s gatherings who will talk to me when the night is over,” Betty replied.

A red eyebrow arched. “Talk to you?”

“Yes. You might not know it because it’s not something you should ever have to bother with, but geisha do _not_ talk. They don’t tell you what happens in the walls of the establishment, no matter what. That’s why men go there,” the older warrior explained.

Kim nodded, but thought on this new information. She guessed it made sense for men to travel to such a place where everything that left their mouths was confidential. She did not know too much about that side of life because she did not need to know anything about it. Well, she had assumed she did not need to know anything about it. It probably would have done her some good for this moment had she shown just an inkling of curiosity toward that aspect of society.

“Okay, even if I agree to do this, I don’t know anything about being a geisha,” the teen pointed out a third time with a troubled look still clouding her olive eyes.

“I already listed to you what you do know and will come in handy. Besides, you don’t have to worry about not knowing anything. I’ll handle that,” Betty assured Kim.

“Am I going to have to do this on my own? I mean, if there’s a whole bunch of these guys, I wouldn’t be able to gather information from all of them,” Kim said. She was no longer attempting to worm her way out of things, but just stating something that was evident. She was but one girl and they could be several plotters.

Brown hair swayed as Betty shook her head slightly. “It’s all right. I’m going to go get Yori-san to go with you.”

Olive eyes went wide briefly. “Yori-chan (2)? Ron-kun (3) would never agree to that.” What husband would stand for his wife entertaining other men?

Betty waved off her concern. “Let me worry about Stoppable-san. You just need to get ready.”

“How long will this take? You know my parents get worried when you keep me out for more than a week or so,” the redhead commented. Of course, she did not understand why her parents worried. She could handle herself and she had proven that more than enough for everyone else.

“I know your parents worry, but I don’t know how long this mission might take. I just need it to get started quickly before the plot takes place and they’re trying to storm the castle or something else just as insane,” Betty replied.

Kim nodded again. This sounded important and, in the end, her parents really did not have anything to worry about as far as she was concerned. Still, she would rather not cause them any grief if possible.

“What are we going to tell my parents while I’m gone? You can’t tell them that I’m out working in a teahouse or something like that,” Kim pointed out the obvious. She could already picture her father storming the place if he knew. Her heart sank at what would happen to her and the family’s reputation if anyone were to find out, not to mention her parents’ disappointment.

“I know I can’t tell them that,” Betty replied. Oh, that was all she needed to do was tell the respected noble parents of a well-known samurai that the girl was doing her a favor by going undercover as a geisha. Her life was already stressful, but with something like that, she might be forced to commit suicide for dishonoring their family. It would not help matters that the girl was engaged to her nephew. So, there was no way she would allow anyone to know what she wanted Kim to do. It was going to be a more difficult secret to obtain than the path to enlightenment.

“So, what are we going to tell them?” Kim asked almost in a panic already. Nothing had even happened and she was already freaking out about what would happen if her family found out about what she had agreed to. Her parents, though laid back, were not so relaxed they would take such news well were they to discover the contract.

“Calm down, Kim-dono. I will think of something. I always do,” Betty reminded the teen.

Kim took a deep breath to calm herself down, easing her twitching, anxious nerves. She had to remember that whenever she did something a little too bizarre, even for her family, Betty had an excuse handy for them. Well, it was more like she had a thorough and well worked out lie for them. The older woman always believed that if Kim could be helpful toward her then she could return the favor in some manner, even though she knew that the girl would not approve of her methods.

“So, are you in?” Betty asked, even though she knew the answer to that question.

Kim smirked confidently; it was like she had been asked if she could walk down the street with no problem. “Hey, I can do anything. I think this falls into that category,” she boasted. She was now ready for the challenge since she did not have to worry about the secret getting out.

“All right. Get together whatever you might want to take in case you’re gone for a while and I’m going to go pick up Yori,” Betty sighed.

The one-eyed female really did not feel up to dealing with young Stoppable-san without Kim, especially since she was going to be trying to take his wife for who-knew-how long to do what-she-was-not-going-to-mention-in-front-of-him. The young man was just so excitable, even though most husbands would lose their cool if they knew what Betty had in mind for his wife.

Now, for the record, the blond teen was a good guy. He was affable and kindhearted. He attempted to be understanding when it came to certain things that others might see as strange or wrong. And because of those factors, Betty tried to be patient with him. He often helped out, going out with Kim to do favors for Betty since they were best friends. They were an odd pair indeed. He was a good-natured lad, but he often seemed out of order in his mind and seemed to forget whom he was speaking with all of the time, which would get him into trouble with elders. She did not want to deal with his special brand of madness, but she needed Yori with Kim.

Yori was skilled in information gathering, among other things. She would be a good complement to Kim, especially since Yori was not as skilled in the refined acts being a proper woman. Yori was just what she was, a ninja more or less.

As far as Betty knew, Yori was a throwaway child. Her parents probably could not afford to keep her and just released her into the wild, so to speak. Now, such a thing was very much illegal, but that did not stop some people. She supposed it worked out well for Yori since the ninja was found and raised up by others. Sure, those people raised her to be an assassin, but Yori’s life worked out a lot better than most abandoned children.

Yori was still alive, first and foremost, which was not something that other disregarded children could boast about. She was also now married to into a noble family. She had a husband who did not mind that she continued her work, even as a ninja, and was well off. Granted, her husband was probably just as crazy as his best friend, though a bit more cautious than she was. But, life was about give and take.

Well, now Betty would have to go deal with the madman that was Stoppable Ron. She doubted he would react well that she was going to take his new wife away for at least a week, and it was a week if things were lucky. She would probably have the girls away much longer than a week. She could already see Stoppable hopping all over the place, waving his arms, and behaving in a most improper fashion before she even got to the reason she was at the house.

Betty exited the Possible manor, putting her sandals back on while she was on her way out. She bid Possible-sensei farewell in passing and then made her way down to the Stoppable residence. The day was getting longer with every step that she took.

The Stoppable residence was different from the Possible household in many ways. One of those being that they had servants. They did not have many, but they had enough to make life easy for the family. There were also no worries about being set on fire or something just as outrageous by a pair of wild twins running around the place like at the Possible manor. She did not have to worry about wondering if the mistress of the household was a fox spirit or not. In fact, she wondered how the Stoppables managed to have the son that they did have considering how normal they were.

When Betty entered the house, it was not hard to figure out where Ron was. She could hear him yelling and from the sound of his voice, she suspected he was sparring with the person that she wanted to see. She was not surprised to find Ron on the ground, holding a bo-staff while curled up in a ball, begging his petite wife to stop.

Looking at him now, it was hard to believe he was the heir to a very special style of combat from the continent. Betty was not sure if Ron’s behavior when sparring, namely the fact that he almost always lost, was due to the fact that he did not take anything seriously unless it was life-threatening or due to the fact that he really did not know what he was doing more often than not and just got lucky when he went out with Kim on missions. It was a question no one really knew the answer to, like what came first — the chicken or the egg.

“Ron-kun,” Yori sighed. Her expression belied her tone because she was looking down at him fondly with soft eyes and a small smile, even if she sounded somewhat frustrated with his reaction to her attack.

“Do over, do over,” Ron said, which seemed to be his favorite phrase when sparring against anyone.

“Why a do over?” Yori inquired.

“I tripped. There was a rock,” the blond warrior lied as he started picking himself up. He pointed randomly around the yard.

“What rock?” Yori asked curiously as she looked around where her husband fell. She would not want him to get hurt on such a rock, so she planned to remove it when it caught her onyx eye. Her character flaw, as far as Betty was concerned, was that the girl believed anything that left Ron’s mouth, no matter how outrageous.

“Excuse me,” Betty said to called attention to herself.

“Director-sama,” the couple gasped. Ron quickly picked himself completely and stood by his wife. They bowed to greet the older woman, but Ron eyed her suspiciously. After all, Betty did not make social calls.

“Stoppable-san, I was hoping you would allow me to borrow your wife for a few moments,” Betty informed them civilly. She just wanted to tell Yori the plan without Ron being around to get overexcited, as he was bound to do. 

“Um… why?” Ron inquired in a cautious manner, squinting slightly.

“I require her,” Betty answered.

“For what?” he asked guardedly. He was usually friendly and if Betty ever came over for a regular visit, she would see that side of him more often, but she did not. While he was not against his wife doing what she wanted, he was against her being recruited on spy missions because of the dangers that she could be in. 

“I’ll tell her,” Betty replied.

“It’s all right,” Yori assured her husband, reaching over to gently pat his hand.

“But—” Ron tried to object, but he was cut off.

“It’s all right,” Yori promised, giving his hand one more pat. They had agreed that she could continue on with her ninja duties after they got married, which meant that she would continue on taking assignments from Betty. He had to and would honor that agreement or it would cause many problems in their new marriage.

Yori stepped away with Betty and they discussed the mission as quietly as possible. It took all of Yori’s self-control to not scream in utter disbelief. There was no way she could pull of such an assignment, she thought.

Ron watched from a distance with his pet on his shoulder. Rufus looked as interested in what was going as Ron. They both could tell that Yori was not happy with whatever was being said. Her body language told that story extremely well. She stood rigid and frowning. Ron’s jaw tensed ever so slightly because of his wife’s stance.

“Unhappy,” Rufus squeaked.

“Yeah, buddy, that she is,” Ron concurred.

They continued to watch until the brief discussion was over. Yori then returned to Ron and tried to explain she would have to go away for a little while without having to tell him why she was leaving.

“What do you mean go away?” Ron’s eyes were big and pleading.

“She has a mission for me,” Yori replied.

“What sort of mission?”

“I haven’t gotten all of the details yet, but I know it’s a matter of life or death as well as to save our nation,” she stated, looking him right in the eye.

“That’s fine. I can come with you. Hell, we can go get Kim and all of us can do this,” he argued.

She shook her head. “I don’t think this mission would be suitable for your skills.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I just don’t think you’d look right in a woman’s kimono,” she answered. She did not even want to imagine what Ron would look like disguised as a woman.

He balked, jumping back a little. “A woman’s kimono?”

Betty watched the young couple go back and forth, but she did not step close enough to hear what they were saying. She could guess what Ron and Yori were going on about and she was fairly accurate in her mind. Besides, she did not want to cause a real fight between them or Yori might never help again.

Betty supposed that some part of her, somewhere deep down, was a bit guilty for taking Yori from her loving, worrisome husband. The couple had not even been married a year yet and here she was taking Yori away when the couple probably wanted to spend some time together. Although, Betty did not see why they really needed to spend any more time together, considering the fact that they had already known each other for a number of years. They should want a break from each other by now, in Betty’s not-so-humble opinion anyway.

Ron put a hell of a resistance in Yori leaving for a mission on her own on such short notice, but he eventually yielded. They stood there for almost an hour, gently countering each other before the blond surrendered and honored their accord. Yori wanted to help and that was what won her husband over. Betty figured it was a good thing that Ron was such an unorthodox husband or they would have had to go through a lot more than what they had.

The couple said their farewells in private. Betty did not want to be kept waiting too long, though. Yori understood and made her farewell hasty without hurting Ron too much. As the ebony-haired spy left, she assured her husband he would always be in her thoughts until she returned, which pacified him somewhat. He desired to beg her to stay with him, but he would not use such a tactic on her, lest she stay out of guilt and that would only bring them trouble. Betty and Yori then went to retrieve Kim, who was ready to go.

While Betty made up some excuse for why Kim was leaving, Kim and Yori looked at each other. They did not say anything to each other, but their eyes conveyed an identical message. It was crystal clear they thought the same thing: _how the hell did we get into this mess?_

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Yori stood quietly at the back of a room while Betty waited patiently for someone she had described to the teens as “a friend.” As far as they understood it, the “friend” was going to help make them pass as geisha. They figured the “friend” had to practice magic then because there was no other way that a samurai and an assassin were going to pass for anything aside from what they were.

Their attention was drawn to the front of the room as a woman entered. The girls both showed no outward signs of a reaction toward her, but they were both considering how beautiful the woman was. They glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. They were going to have to look like that? They quickly began making backup plans because now they were all but certain that the undercover plan was going to fail. Probably in some grand, spectacular fashion at that.

“Betty-san,” the woman greeted Betty as she sat down formally in front of the one-eyed woman. The newcomer smiled softly, almost coyly at Betty.

Yori and Kim glanced at each other again. “Betty-san?” their eyes seemed to ask each other. It seemed awfully familiar in their opinions and they were unaccustomed to hearing anyone refer to Betty in an almost friendly tone. They supposed things could have been stranger. She could have always said “Betty-chan,” which might have guaranteed Kim and Yori believing they had gone mad at some point in time while stuck in the room.

“Good day, Vivian-san,” Betty greeted the woman in return.

The woman, Porter Vivian, was a tall, blond female with striking eyes as blue as the sky, which was something else that caught Kim and Yori’s attention. They figured it probably paid to be blond with bright blue eyes if she was what they thought she was. The exotic look probably brought in many customers, they considered, and they were absolutely correct in that thinking.

“Betty-san, I just want to remind you that this thing you ask of me is almost impossible,” Vivian said in a plain tone.

“Nonsense,” Betty replied.

“First of all, if it gets out that I helped the government, my business is blown. No one would ever come again.” 

“They won’t find out,” the one-eyed woman tried to assure her nervous friend.

“Second, do you know how long it takes to be able to perform this job? I could sooner train a horse to walk on water than two of your people to do this,” Vivian argued, seeming rather polite, even though she was insulting the quiet females in the room.

“Would you at least look at them before casting such a dismal decision,” Betty requested.

Vivian sighed and turned her sky blue eyes over to the girls. She stood up gracefully; up until that very moment, Kim and Yori had no idea that standing could be done with such style and grace. She walked over to them and thoroughly inspected them without saying a word. They did not speak either, even though they did not enjoy being eyed like objects at a market.

“Would you consider selling the redhead to me?” Vivian inquired in her usual tone, so it was difficult to tell if she was kidding or if she meant that question.

“Vivian,” Betty said firmly while Kim was close to snapping. _Does this woman not know who I am_ , Kim silently fumed.

“What? Men would come from far and wide to see her,” the blond commented.

“I can’t sell you this girl. Just make them believable in a week,” Betty said.

“A week?” Vivian nearly shrieked, but she gained control of herself just in time to keep her tone even. She turned her attention back to Betty. “Did you say a week?” she asked to be sure, regarding Betty as if she were the very definition of insane.

“They need to be in there and finding out things, unless you’re going to supply me with the information I need,” Betty replied.

“I’ve already given you more than I was supposed to,” the blond beauty pointed out as she returned to her seat in front of Betty.

“And you won’t have to give anymore if you take them through a crash course. They might not look like it, but they’re very bright and they pick up things quickly. Give them a week and surely they’ll pick it up,” the brunette woman stated.

Kim and Yori glanced at each other. They might not look it? Even Director was insulting them now. And they were doing her a favor!

Vivian looked at the girls. “They don’t look that quick,” she remarked with a teasing smile.

“You shouldn’t judge them by looks. Besides, weren’t you just offering to buy the redhead?” Betty retorted with a taunting smile of her own.

“Still, what you ask of me, impossible. They probably can’t even walk in a proper kimono,” Vivian commented. The teens were not wearing formal kimonos. They had come out in hakama, which was their casual wear.

“You’re just going to be difficult about this?” Betty asked with a frown.

“I’m being realistic,” the blond answered.

“Girls, could you wait outside for a moment?” the one-eyed woman pretty much ordered the teens.

The younger warriors did not argue. They were not happy to just stand there and be belittled by the blond woman. They silently exited the room and wondered what the two older women were going to talk about. They wondered if they were going to be going home much sooner than expected.

“Do you think we can do this, Kim-chan?” Yori asked curiously.

“Come on, Yori-chan. We can do anything,” Kim answered with her chin in the air.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” the ebony-haired young woman inquired.

Kim shrugged; she had no idea what they might be going on about. They looked at each other and nodded. They cracked the door to look inside.

-8-8-8-8-

“Vivian, why must you be difficult?” Betty inquired in a low tone, just in case a certain pair of spies tried to do their job before they were even at the location they were supposed to be.

“Perhaps I just want you to stay around a little longer than usual,” Vivian replied, walking around the room. She cast Betty a look over her shoulder.

Betty glanced away. “You know I’m busy.”

“I know,” the blond admitted with a small shrug and matching smile. Her eyes appeared a bit disappointed, though. She moved closer and sat down.

With a sigh, Betty decided to get things back on task. “Can you teach them or not?”

“And when you do come by, you’re so tense and huffy. It almost makes me never want to talk to you again,” Vivian commented and pouted something fierce, as if the expression was weapon she was brandishing.

Betty exhaled loudly through her nose. “Vivian, please, just help me out here.” 

“What’s in it for me? This is such a difficult task and against so many understandings that I have with my clients. I mean, we are discreet,” Vivian reminded the warrior. 

“Just use them on the party that I need information from and they won’t have to know anything about your other clients. I’m sure you can figure out a way for them to blend into a room and not have to do much.”

Vivian seemed to think on the matter. “What’s in it for me?” she asked again with a smirk.

The one-eyed woman just sighed again. If only she was not going to need Vivian again sometime in the future, she would not put up with the little game from the blond. She then leaned forward and whispered something into Vivian’s ear that made the blue-eyed female smile. As Betty pulled away, she ran a finger along Vivian’s elegant jaw.

“All right?” Betty inquired as she sat back down.

“I guess I can try to do something with them, but I can’t make any promises. A week is nothing unless they’ve already done this before,” Vivian replied.

“They’ll be fine,” Betty commented, trying to sound reassuring. She _hoped_ they would be fine anyway.

“For both of our sakes, you better be right,” Vivian replied. “You’re going to call them back in now?”

“You want to sit here alone for a moment, don’t you?” Betty asked because she knew the blond very well and often knew what was going through her mind.

“It would be nice.”

“Fine,” Betty agreed and Vivian smiled.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Yori glanced at each other and then turned their attention back to the small slit in the sliding door. They were not too sure what they were looking at and they glanced at each other with the hope that one of them would be able to explain it. Neither of them had any rationalization for the other, so they just continued looking on. Perhaps the scene was like a puzzle that they were required to put together and it as necessary that they concentrated on it for a little longer.

“You two,” Betty called after a few minutes, which almost caused the two teens to jump. They maintained their cool.

“Yes,” the duo answered.

“You can come back in now,” Betty informed them.

The pair slid the door opened and reentered the room. Kim shut the door behind her and stood by the shoji with Yori. They looked at the older women, who were sitting as they were when the teens had exited the room minutes ago.

“You two pretty much belong to this woman now,” Betty informed them while motioning to Vivian.

“Get ready for the worst week of your lives,” Vivian told them with a rather scary smile. Kim and Yori glanced at each other; what the hell had they gotten into now?

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim and Yori get a crash course and then are thrown to the wolves.

-8-8-8-8-

1: shamisen: a Japanese string instrument. Think small guitar or banjo.

2: -chan: used to express intimacy and affection.

3: -kun: informal and intimate used to address males mostly.


	3. Pour in The Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

3: Pour in The Music

“So, what do I call these two?” Vivian asked Betty as she looked over Kim and Yori. 

Vivian would try her best to get the girls to resemble geisha. She doubted it would work, but she had agreed already and she knew Betty needed her help. If Betty needed her, she was there, especially for a price. If Betty treated her as if she held more value to the one-eyed woman, she would not even need a price. Maybe, one day, Betty would figure that out. 

Betty had aliases all lined up for the duo. “She’s Akako,” the brunette warrior said while motioning to Kim and then she motioned to Yori. “And she’s Ayame.”

“Akako?” Kim muttered and had to fight off rolling her eyes. _Oh, yeah, that name’s original_ , she thought sarcastically.

“Ayame?” Yori mumbled. Did she look like an “Ayame”? She supposed it could have been worse. She could be walking around as “Akako,” but of course, the name would not be as obvious on her as it was with Kim.

“Cute names. With luck, I can whip them into shape and none of us will have to die,” Vivian remarked with a smile. She was joking and being serious at the same time. She was also very aware those were not the girls’ real names. She thought Betty was being overly cautious to not even tell her the real names. She was trustworthy, after all; the one-eyed woman should know that, she thought.

The girls only nodded. They were rather cooperative with everything, knowing it would make things easy, until Vivian tried to take Kim’s swords from her. Kim glared at her when she reached for the blades.

“My swords stay with me,” Kim stated.

“You won’t need those while you’re with me, though,” Vivian tried to assure her.

“My swords stay with me, no matter what,” Kim repeated in firm tone. She put both hands on all three of the blades.

It quickly and clearly became evident they would probably have an easier time getting Kim’s eyes out of her skull than her swords off of her waist. Vivian turned to Betty for support and also gave Betty a frown. Okay, so this had not started well, but at least it had started.

“Could you just give her the swords?” Betty sighed impatiently. She wanted everything to go smoothly and with Kim putting up a struggle, things were not running smoothly. The actions made her worry about when she would have to leave the teens with Vivian. Was it a disaster waiting to happen?

“I can’t just give her my swords,” Kim objected. It went beyond the fact that her swords represented her soul, but into a rather complicated area that she knew better than to go into, especially with Betty.

“Just hand the swords over. She’s not going to do anything to them,” the one-eyed woman stated, her patience wearing thin. If Kim held things up, she had better be a fox like the rumors claimed because she would need the all the magic in the world to make it out of that room in tact as far as Betty was concerned.

“I can’t just give her my swords. I’ll secure them some place on my own when I deem it necessary,” the redhead replied.

“Kim,” Betty said in a stern tone. It would seem that the plan was going awry before it even got started and it was not making her very optimistic about how the olive-eyed samurai would perform her assignment.

“The only way anyone aside from me is touching my swords is if I’m dead,” Kim stated, extremely serious. No one outside of her family had ever touched her swords before and she was not about to break that streak.

“Well, since you’re of use to me alive, I suppose no one is touching your swords yet. They’re your problem now, Vivian-san,” Betty remarked.

“Goody,” the blond commented in deadpan tone. She suspected she should have demanded a higher price if she was going to have to spend time with a neurotic samurai. Well, it was too late to back out or renegotiate now.

-*-(New day)-*-

Yori fell on her face yet again and groaned as she hit the ground. She punched the grass in frustration, growling into the dirt of the courtyard. Vivian sighed and shook her head, but she could understand the younger lady’s aggravation.

“You’re not making this easy, you know?” the blond asked Yori.

“This isn’t easy. It’s impossible to walk in these things,” Yori declared. To her, Vivian was making it seem like she was falling on face on purpose, which was rather insulting.

“You’re the only one around here who can’t do it,” Vivian commented in a lighthearted tone. She was not trying to be discourteous, even though she spoke the truth.

Yori was having trouble with two things so far. One was walking in a formal kimono and the other was walking in the formal kimono in a pair of okobo (high wooden clogs). She was not accustomed to wearing a full kimono, considering the fact she had no need for it until recently. Before she had married Ron, she did not even own a full, formal kimono. The one she currently wore actually belonged to Kim.

“Why do I need to walk in these, anyway? Can’t I just sit in the room and be quiet?” Yori inquired as she pushed herself up from the grass as if she was doing a pushup.

“That is pretty much what you’re going to do, but this is just in case. Everything I show you this week is just in case, but for the most part, I want you to sit there and try to do as little as possible. Now, do either of you have any useable talents?” Vivian asked Yori and Kim, who stood back and watched Yori try to just walk.

The redhead had no trouble walking in the kimono. She was not very accustomed to wearing the okobo, but they were not so difficult for her to walk in after a few tries. She tried not to laugh at Yori as she practiced. It was getting easier and easier not to chuckle considering after about the tenth time Yori fell, it was not as funny.

“Is this where I should volunteer that I play the shamisen?” Kim asked since that had been a talent of hers that Betty had brought up when she pitched the mission. 

“Good. Ayame-san?” Vivian inquired, speaking to Yori.

“I can play the flute,” Yori replied.

“Better than you walk in that kimono?” the blond woman teased. 

“I do a lot of things better than this,” the ninja answered in a mumbled. She was ready to throw one of her clogs at Vivian because she seemed to get a kick out of making fun of the shinobi (ninja). Kim would get the other one because she could tell that early on the olive-eyed samurai was mentally laughing at her.

“Good. That’s the perfect way to make you two part of the wall. You sit back and play your instruments. Just listen in on the conversations. They’ll volunteer information to the others and everything should go fine,” Vivian assured them.

“How long do you think this’ll take?” the redheaded warrior asked. 

“Not very long. You have no idea how talkative gentlemen are… well, most of them anyway. They do have on curiously silent member of their group, but he’s not really important. The two that do talk about what you want to know don’t really shut up,” Vivian answered with an amused expression. She seemed like such a jovial woman, they noted, but she was also slightly cruel in their opinions, too.

“Sounds promising,” Yori commented, especially since it would mean she would not have to walk in the clogs for long, if she ever managed to walk in them at all. She was having trouble with remembering to take small steps. She was also having trouble remembering to keep her feet turned inward. She wondered why anyone would want to walk like that anyway. It reminded her of a bird and people should not walk like birds as far as she was concerned. 

“Just try not to get in the way or mess anything up,” Vivian pled with them quite seriously. She was only trying to do her civic duty and get something in return from Betty, so she did not need them to ruin anything in her business.

“We want this to go as smoothly as you do,” Kim assured the blond.

Vivian nodded. She was aware they wanted to be in and out as soon as possible without anything going wrong. But, she also figured they would be more comfortable if something did go wrong and they had to draw their weapons and get into a fight. They had made it clear when she spoke with them to try to understand who she was working with that they were warriors. It was something they were proud of and wanted it known.

Thinking about that, Vivian wondered what Kim, or as she knew the girl, Akako had done with her three swords that she refused to part with until death. She had not seen the weapons since the ordeal of trying to take them from “Akako.” She guessed that was good enough, even though she would have preferred to know where the redhead kept everything. Knowing would have set her mind at ease, especially with that pair.

“All right, back to the lessons,” Vivian said with a sigh. She silently prayed to any and everything listening that her two “pupils” did not have to be around for too long. It was paining her to watch them try.

-8-8-8-8-

Yori and Kim practiced all night, just as they had done the previous few days. They got very little sleep, if any at all, but the routine paid off some. They showed signs of improvement by the time Vivian let them go. They could tell from the look in the older woman’s eyes that she did not think they would be able to pull this off. She did not know they could do anything, Kim figured.

Well, perhaps they could not do everything. They could not make friends with the other girls for one thing. The other ladies around the place did not seem to like them much for a reason that was beyond the pair. They were not accustomed to dealing with individuals disliking them right from the start.

Yori was beginning to wonder if there were signs on their backs that read “spies” and only they could not see it, which would explain why the other girls disliked them without a reason. Kim was inclined to believe they were getting “the treatment” because they were new. Either way, they were both in agreement that they hated every female in the building that they were currently staying in and they wanted to go home, where they fit in… more or less. 

“Kim-chan,” Yori said. They were in their room, away from everyone else. It probably would have been a good idea for them to sleep while they were lying down, but the day was getting closer and closer and they were not feeling any more like entertainers or extremely proper women than the day that Betty had given them over to Vivian.

“Yeah?” Kim replied.

“We can do this right?”

“Do you play the flute really well?”

“Yes,” Yori confirmed. 

“Then we can do this. You play the flute, I play the shamisen, and we don’t draw attention to ourselves while in the room. It seems like a solid plan,” Kim replied. It should work.

“What if I get asked to pour tea?” the onyx-eyed warrior wondered out loud and that question sort of threw her spy partner off. 

“Yori-chan, you pour tea all the time and now you’re nervous about it?” Kim countered with a craned eyebrow. She figured if anything Yori should be worried if they make her walk around outside. She was getting the hang of walking in the full kimono, but the okobo still tripped her up.

“I’m nervous about this. Wait, how did she talk you into this?” the ninja inquired rather curiously. She knew why she was there, but how in the world did Kim get pulled into such a strange task? 

Kim sighed and scratched her forehead. “She asked for my help before explaining the mission.”

“And you just agreed before you knew what you were doing,” Yori guessed. It was a statement, not a question. 

“Ah, you know me well, my friend,” the samurai commented with small laugh.

Yori chuckled a bit, too. She had not known Kim too long considering how young they were, but relatively speaking, she had known Kim long enough to understand how the exceptional samurai got roped into things. Kim did missions because she was extremely kindhearted, almost to the point of it being a failing, while Yori did things out of a sense of duty more than anything else. She was not sure which one got them into more trouble considering they were both now stuck in situation that she was rather skeptical that they would make it out of in one piece.

“Yori-chan, you’ve got to think positive. You’ve got to tell yourself you can do this and you can make it and you can, so you will. I mean, you don’t get this nervous when they have you sneak into people’s houses that are crawling with guards and everything, right?” Kim asked. 

“Well… no,” the ninja answered. She did that stuff all the time. It was easier to her than walking in a damn kimono that was sure.

“Okay, so approach this like that and you’ll be fine.” 

Yori’s forehead furrowed. “Is that how you look at it?”

“I’m just telling myself that it’s like any other formal event I’ve been, too, but I don’t have to impress anyone,” Kim replied with a shrug.

Yori nodded. She wished she could approach it like that, but she had not been to many formal events and the ones she had been in made her very anxious, sometimes almost scared. She always swore the people attending could tell she did not belong and were calling her a barbarian in their minds. There were times when she could see it in their eyes. Sometimes, she felt like such an embarrassment to her husband, but he never seemed to care what other people thought, which made her feel better about herself. 

“We should get to sleep. Heaven knows when that sun comes up, we’re going to be scolded fairly hard,” Kim remarked.

Vivian scolded them like it was in fashion. She seemed like a very nice and pleasant woman, to everyone except to them anyway. They had seen her interact with the other girls around here and she definitely was not as harsh. They could understand why she was like that with her ass being on the line and everything, along with their asses, so they did not think too much of it. They were not plotting revenge or anything.

“At least you don’t know what the grass tastes like in three different sections of the yard. I can actually tell where we are in the yard by the taste of the grass,” Yori commented and Kim could not help laughing.

“Your problem is that you’re used to tabi boots or nothing at all on your feet during a missions,” Kim teased. There was also the fact that Yori was used to wearing pants rather than a kimono.

“I still say it’s impossible to walk in those okobo. Why can’t I just wear zori (sandals) like a normal person?” the ninja groaned. 

“You’re not a normal person anymore,” Kim pointed out.

“At least I get to play my flute during this thing.” 

“You like your flute?” Kim asked. Despite knowing Yori for a few years, she had never heard anything of the shinobi playing the flute. She assumed it was something private, possibly intimate for Yori now.

“Yes, it makes me feel calm and Ron-kun enjoys when I play for him. You don’t like playing the shamisen?” Yori countered. This was the first she had heard of Kim playing anything.

“Not really. I play it because my grandmother thought it would be a good way to get me to stop taking missions. Goes to prove what she knows. Director-sama came to me because I play the shamisen,” Kim replied.

Yori laughed again. _Okay, that’s ironic_ , she thought. The girls decided they really needed to go to sleep while they had the chance to indulge in the act. They would have a tough time of it in the morning, after all. Well, they supposed things could have been worse; they just could not figure out how at the moment.

-*-(New day)-*-

It was the moment of truth for Kim and Yori. They were dressed like actual maiko (apprentice geisha). It almost amazed them, mostly because they had been halfway certain Vivian would kill them before the week was out.

They were both slightly uncomfortable with the makeup and they were both looking at each, guessing the other was considering the same strange notion. Yori wondered if she looked as ridiculous as Kim did with her face painted pure white and Kim wondered the same thing. It took a lot of willpower to not scratch the paint off. Their heads were weighed down with decorations and ornaments, much more than they would ever voluntarily wear. 

While Kim was accustomed to dressing up, everything at the moment seemed like a bit much to her, including the flashy kimono. They both enjoyed looking pleasant and everything, but now it all seemed excessive. It did not help that they were dressed as they were for a specific reason and not because they were just going to be two women at a gathering, which was how they tried to think of the night to come.

The duo was understandably nervous about what was going on. It took all of their self-control to just stand still and not express their anxiousness in any manner. They were walking into the unknown big time. Vivian’s last words of encouragement were for them to “sit, play, and do not talk to anyone no matter what.” Did she think that helped! It only made them more apprehensive than ever.

To make matters worse, they had been thrown into a group where the main female truly seemed to detest them for some reason that was beyond the duo. They believed her name was Bonnie. And her words of encouragement for them were “stay the hell out of my way” and then she offered them a look that they bet was the same look dogs gave each other before battling to the death.

Bonnie had been instructed that Kim and Yori were only going to play their instruments through the evening. Nothing more. The party that they were entertaining usually did not ask for much anyway. They mostly seemed to desire someone to pour sake, laugh at odd remarks, and play music. Bonnie was all for the new ones just staying out of the way and not screwing up the evening.

“You take that space over there,” Bonnie harshly ordered Kim, pointing to a corner that was rather out of the way.

The redhead did not argue and walked over to that corner with her shamisen in hand. Yori followed her before she was given any commands. Bonnie did not say anything, even though she planned to order Yori go someplace else. As long as those two maiko were out of the way, everything would run smoothly, like it always did, she figured.

“Yori-chan, be calm,” Kim whispered to the nervous kunoichi (female ninja), whose bottom lip was trembling and revealing her state of mind. Yori’s anxiety was only going to make her feel that way, which would not do them any good. 

“I can’t help it,” Yori replied in a whisper.

“You have to calm down. If you keep being nervous about everything, you won’t be able to play the flute. Just calm down and think about how you’ll be playing the flute in a minute and then you can block the rest of the world out. You can close your eyes and pretend you’re playing for Ron-kun under a beautiful starlight night sky,” Kim said.

Yori nodded and that thought comforted her. As soon as everything did begin, she would be able to play her beloved flute and drown out the world, like she always did when she played the instrument. That was actually why she played the flute; it brought her comfort and had always set her at ease. So, she was all right now that she thought about that. Too bad Kim could not say the same thing.

Kim got about a zero on a pleasure scale when it came to playing the shamisen. She was told that she played well, but she did not like to play no matter how well she did. It was something she was forced into by her grandmother as a way to make her to behave a bit more ladylike. Being forced to do it for such a ridiculous reason actually made Kim dislike the shamisen and she wished she played the stupid thing awfully just to show her grandmother a thing or two.

The two spies watched while everything was set up for the party that was about to happen. Kim could not imagine having to attend a banquet everyday like these women had to do. She was not a fan of gatherings because people tended to stare at her or at her mother if she was around. She knew the general reason why people stared, but sometimes, she saw them looking at her shadow or something just as outrageous, as if they really expected her to have the shadow of a fox. Although she had heard that several people claimed she did cast the shadow of a fox, or that she had a tail, or just some other nonsense. People said the same thing about her mother. People needed hobbies, she thought.

-8-8-8-8- 

Yori and Kim began to play their instruments when Bonnie instructed them to do so, even though the room was still empty. The pair watched as the party entered the room. They wanted to practically memorize the faces of everyone that might be involved in a plot to overthrow the government.

The first person to enter was an elderly gentleman. He was slightly hunched over and used a walking stick. There were some bags underneath his eyes. He had on a plain black kimono with a red haori (1). Bonnie greeted him, calling him Senior-sama, which caught Kim’s attention. 

Kim had heard of Lord Senior. He was supposedly just some very rich, old daimyo, who did not seem to know what to do with all of his wealth. Since when did he start plotting against the government? She considered he might actually just be bored because she had heard he did peculiar things when he found life getting dull.

Behind the elderly lord was his son, a large young man named after his father. He was practically a giant with an impressive physical build, and the female entertainers seemed to fall right into him. Although, his facial features probably helped them along in being attracted to the young man and, of course, the fact that he was the heir to a vast estate did not hurt at all.

Following behind Junior, there was a strange, creepy looking blue individual. He had beady onyx eyes and a scar under the left one. He was dressed in a plain, blue yukata (informal kimono). He did not look very comfortable with being in the room, his eyes darting around the place, but Kim did not think anything of that. She glanced at Yori to see if the other spy wondered the same thing as her, which was “could this get any weirder?” 

The answer to their question turned out to be: _yes_. Things actually got stranger because behind the cerulean fellow was a slender young… man?… with light green skin. He was wearing a mask that covered the bottom half of his face and also a straw hat that he kept pulled down, as if trying to totally obscure his visage. There was something off about the green-skinned male that struck Kim and Yori as odd. He looked a bit effeminate, even though they could barely make out his features. But, there was something about the eyes and part of the nose they could see. The spies now looked at each other as if to ask “is that a man?”

They figured the green-skinned fellow had to be a man since only men were allowed in the district, aside from the female entertainers anyway. They had to be logical about things. So, they figured the odd pale green person was a male. He was probably just a very young male. 

The green-skinned fellow was dressed in a dark green top with black hakama. He sat down next to the blue man and seemed slightly irked with having to be at the banquet. He sat rigid with his arms folded across his chest.

“Come now, remove your head,” the elder Senior insisted.

The green male huffed and shook his head. His shoulders got tenser. The lord did not seemed bothered by the surly response and merely insisted again. The green-skinned male huffed once more and removed the hat, glaring at no one in general. Long black hair fell down his back as he set the hat down behind him and then folded his arms once more. He frowned if one of the entertainers came near him.

“Oh, new girls,” Junior commented as he noticed Kim and Yori just hanging out in the corner, doing as they were told, namely playing their instruments.

“They play very well,” Senior commented while glancing at the duo. 

“You’re too kind, Senior-sama,” Bonnie replied with a demur smile and slight bow.

“Yeah, it’s just noise anyway,” the blue fellow hissed, scowling in their direction. 

“Ah, Drakken-sensei, you have to learn to appreciate the beautiful things in life,” Senior replied.

“I do, but music isn’t one of them. In fact, when we take over, I’m having music banned on my half the empire,” the cerulean male, Drakken declared soundly. His frown remained in place and he folded his arms across his chest in a tantrum. 

Senior shook his head in a disapproving manner. Well, it would seem Kim and Yori were not there for nothing. The group had wasted no time in openly admitting to having something planned against the government. It was a bit shocking for Kim and Yori and they almost were not sure if they had heard right.

“Your half will be for barbarians,” Senior commented in an amused tone, waving the matter off with one hand.

“My half will be for the smart people and everyone will bow to me,” Drakken proclaimed in a rather loud tone, rising one finger in the air. The gesture was followed by some rather obnoxious laughter. The noise could not have sounded worse if it was a mule making the racket. 

The green gentleman scoffed and rolled his dark jade eyes. Apparently, he was not impressed with Drakken’s plans. Kim and Yori silently admitted if Drakken did succeed, which they were going to make sure he did not do, they were moving if he was going to own the half they lived in.

“Do we have to talk about this? Let’s have some food and drink,” Junior declared with a smile and that was signal for one of the ladies to pour him some wine. 

Junior’s behavior did not seem to shock anyone. So, they all knew Junior was there for the fun and not the talk. He was there to get drunk more often than not. So, when the sake started, he wanted it to keep on coming until he just could not drink anymore. Kim and Yori thought he might be the one with loose lips, but considering the way Drakken and Senior just openly mentioned their plan, it did not matter. 

Drakken and Senior were a bit more controlled about things. They had drinks while talking about their plans. They were rather open with everything since they were fairly certain what they said would never leave the room. This teahouse was known to be the most discreet as well as the most entertaining.

“So, how goes the progress on the weapons?” Senior asked. 

“Everything is going well and I’ll have the weapons ready for your men on time,” Drakken assured him.

Senior nodded and took a small sip of his sake. He enjoyed the taste for a moment. “And what of the ultimate weapon?”

“It will be ready as well,” Drakken vowed.

Throughout the talk, the green-skinned fellow was silent. Occasionally, he put out his cup, quietly demanding someone to pour him a drink, but he did not speak at all. He removed his mask to drink his sake, but always put it back in place when he was done with sipping the drink, so his face was not exposed for long. He rolled his eyes many times when Drakken said something to Senior, like declaring he was a genius or something of the like. He also rolled his eyes whenever he glanced at Junior, who seemed to be enjoying the hostesses more than the rest of his party.

“Hey,” Junior said out of the blue. He was already drunk and they had hardly been there an hour, but that was expected. Sometimes, he got tipsy in under a half-hour. 

“What is it, my son?” Senior inquired.

“You know, whenever we come here, he never does anything,” Junior replied with a slur while pointing at their silent companion. 

“Maybe he doesn’t want to do anything,” Senior pointed out with patience in his tone.

Senior noted a long time ago that Drakken’s personal bodyguard was antisocial. The skinny chap did not speak most of the time. He also seemed to mock Drakken with his expressions, but Drakken was too oblivious to notice. Senior was thankful Drakken was more acute about things when it came to building weapons or their careful planning would be for naught. 

“No, I think he needs to do something. So many pretty ladies and he just sits there. It doesn’t make any sense. Are you shy?” Junior asked the silent bodyguard, who did not answer. The lack of response did not stop Junior, who turned his attention to Bonnie since she was at his side. “I bet you he’s shy. You’re probably shy because you’re just a boy. I’ll make a man out of you, though. You should give him a private room and maybe one of the girls could loosen him up,” the blue-eyed male suggested.

“But, Senior-san, who would we send?” Bonnie asked in a very innocent tone. She batted her eyes at him.

Junior looked around the room while the green bodyguard’s eyes narrowed. It would seem the slender fellow did not like the fact that Junior scanned the room for a woman to send him off with. And then Junior spotted the one that he wanted for the bodyguard. 

“Take her,” Junior said while pointing to Kim.

“Her?” Bonnie echoed while Kim gulped. Her? Oh, boy. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim is left alone with the skinny, green-skinned fellow. What happens?

-8-8-8-8-

1: haori: short jacket worn over a kimono.

Kim’s alias and her reaction to it: Aka means red. Akako means red child or bright child. She doesn’t think it was very original for obvious reasons.

Bonus gallery pictures by [Jyumai](http://jyuami.deviantart.com/): [HB Kim 01](http://jyuami.deviantart.com/art/HB-Kim-01-46343509), [HB Kim 02](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/HB-Kim-02-46343984), [HB Shego](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/HB-Shego-46344606), and [Quiet Observation](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/Quiet-Observation-46319306). If you like these, please leave comments over at deviantart.

--


	4. Golden Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

4: Golden Bonds 

Kim looked almost aghast and she missed a note on her shamisen. She was in a bit of a spot, which put it mildly in her opinion. Less than an hour into her role as a maiko, she was being ordered to go be alone with a quiet young man, who she was not even certain was a man. The plan had originally called for her to just sit there and play her shamisen while gathering the information that she and Yori needed to complete their work. So, she really was not prepared for anything outside of that. 

Kim turned her attention to Bonnie, who was pretty much her “big sister geisha.” She hoped Bonnie would think of some excuse so she would not have to leave. Bonnie had seemed to want nothing more out of Kim and Yori than for them to sit in the back and stay out of the way, which was why Kim thought Bonnie would assist her to keep her where she was.

Bonnie had actually been instructed by Vivian to make sure Kim and Yori did not get much attention drawn to them. Bonnie was not sure why she had been given such commands, but those were the standing orders and she knew better than to disobey Vivian’s orders. Still, she looked at Kim with disdain in her turquoise eyes, which left Kim puzzled. Why was she getting such a horrible look?

“Senior-san,” Bonnie practically cooed, speaking to Junior since it was his suggestion that the silent green bodyguard take Kim to private room. “That one is new. Surely you want someone with better experience to tend to your friend,” she said.

“No, no, no. That one’s perfect. Her red hair is pretty,” Junior commented with a smile.

Bonnie frowned; apparently, Kim had been chosen because of her exotic look. Usually, the only exotic look that Bonnie had to put up with was Tara, who was blond. But, she did not consider Tara much competition on earning patrons because Tara was rather average underneath that blond hair. She would have to see if Kim was the same.

“Don’t do me any favors,” the green-skinned bodyguard grumbled in protest. He was happy with just sitting there as long as the wine kept coming to help him block out the nonsense that Drakken was going on about. It was a good thing that geisha did not share conversations because Drakken Senior had gone over the plan several times already in front of the same group of women. If those females had someone among them who was good with tools, they could use the scheme to take over the government on their own before his boss got around to it.

“No, no, no. I insist. I want you to lighten up and have some fun,” the drunken Junior replied. “You,” he called to Kim, pointing at her.

Kim gulped. Should she answer? Should she pretend she did not know who he was talking to? She was not sure, but that did not seem to even have to be an issue.

“What’s her name?” Junior asked Bonnie.

“Akako,” Bonnie answered, trying to hold back the venom she was feeling from seeping into her sweet tone. It was a hard thing to do between gritted teeth.

“Fitting name. Akako, come,” Junior called to Kim again and he motioned for her to come over.

Kim glanced at Yori, who just continued to play her flute because she did not know what else to do. The redhead bit her lip before doing as she was ordered. She put her shamisen down and went over to Junior. Yori silently prayed nothing went wrong.

“Akako, maybe you can go and cheer my friend up. He’s always so gloomy, even in the company of so many beautiful women. Surely a creature with your looks can pick his spirits up,” Junior said, smiling as if he had somehow complimented her.

“Um…” Kim hesitated, glancing at Bonnie for some help. It was not like she could decline, but she did not know what she was expected to do in order to “pick his spirits up.”

“I’m sure she can,” Bonnie concurred and Kim glared at her. “I can arrange for another room,” the tanned female added.

Kim could have sworn Bonnie was supposed to be on her side. Bonnie was supposed to make sure she just sat in the back and played the shamisen. It would seem Bonnie was now being spiteful for some reason Kim could not figure out; it was not like Kim had done anything to Bonnie.

Bonnie smirked at Kim as she stood up to go arrange for the room. She figured she would teach the redhead a lesson, especially since the little maiko appeared rather nervous about the arrangement that was going down. The maiko needed to learn who was in charge and who was the best geisha in this teahouse.

“Look, this is all unnecessary,” the bodyguard tried to protest, but his words fell on deaf ears.

“Hurry, arrange a room,” Junior urged Bonnie. She moved to carry out his wishes.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim looked around the dark room that she now shared with the silent bodyguard whose name she had not even caught. The green-skinned male scanned the room, too, and then he suddenly flopped down on the floor. He sighed and turned his attention to the little maiko in the room.

“You can leave,” he informed her in a disinterested tone, dismissing her with a flick of his wrist.

Kim seemed shocked by the dismissal, as if she had just been told she was utterly useless. _I should be happy to hear he wants me to leave_ , she told herself. She did not know what she was supposed to do in the room alone with him and she really did not want to know. But, she did not leave for a couple of reasons.

The main reason was that she did not want to go back to the main room or she knew there would be questions. She did not want to attract even more attention to herself. Plus, she did not want to attract Bonnie’s ire since it was clear Bonnie had some issue with her. Leaving seemed like it would just spell trouble.

The other reason she stayed might have had something to do with the fact that he had ordered her around. She had a problem with being commanded by someone she did not know. Well, she had a problem with being ordered around in general, but even more so from someone she did not know and who did not seem to respect her.

Plus, she considered she might be able to get more information from him about the plot to overthrow the Shogun, like when the scheme was going to start. If she could get through his blasé attitude, she might be able to cut through everything, so she and Yori could get out of this teahouse as soon as possible.

“You sure you don’t want any company?” Kim asked, doing her best to modest and demure.

“I don’t,” he replied in a gruff tone that it seemed he was forcing, like that was not his natural voice. Maybe he was trying to sound older than he was.

“I can see why with the ‘intellectuals’ you hang out with,” Kim commented. She was going out on a limb because if he took offense to that statement, she would be in serious trouble.

“Yeah,” he grumbled with a frown.

She took this as an in. “Why hang out with people you don’t seem to like?”

“What, everyone you surround yourself with is someone you love and adore?” he countered with a bit of a laugh.

“All right, I guess you got me there,” Kim conceded with a shrug.

“Yeah, so like I said, you can go away,” he repeated and waved her off.

“Yeah, I can see why you’d want to be left alone with friends like that,” Kim remarked with a small smile. She figured it was safe to say again since she got away with it a first time.

Scowling again, his emerald eyes focused on the floor. “They’re not my friends.”

“No? So, you’re hanging out with people you don’t even like and they’re not your friends?” Kim asked.

“Once again, I’m sure everyone you hang out with, you love and adore, but most of the world doesn’t work like that. Sometimes you have to put up with people you really just want to slap around,” he replied.

“All right, I know that one, too,” Kim yielded honestly. She had been around more than her fair share of people who she would have preferred to stab than work with.

“I’ll bet you do with the way your ‘big sister’ sold you out like that.” 

“Oh,” Kim muttered and laughed a little. “You noticed that, huh?” her voice was a bit sheepish and she scratched her cheek for a second.

“Yeah. She probably looks at you as a threat. Her big, blue-eyed idiot likes things he hasn’t seen before and I’m pretty sure the mountain of red hair flipped a switch in him,” the bodyguard said in a dull tone.

Kim’s brow furrowed. “Then why’d he send me off with you?” 

Snorting, he shrugged. “Hell if I know. I told you he’s an idiot. Maybe he thinks he’s sharing or something. I don’t know how his mind works and I really don’t want to know how his mind works.”

“I know someone like that, too,” Kim commented. She thought of Ron. She did not know how his mind worked and she really did not want to know. She doubted Ron had anything _else_ in common with Junior, though. 

“Well, I’m starting to pity you right now,” he said sarcastically. “Look, it’s pretty obvious you’re not going to leave for whatever reason, but since you’re here, light a lantern and pour me a drink,” he commanded. 

Kim did not argue that, as she knew she was not supposed to. She went and lit a couple of lanterns to illuminate the room. She also went and poured the green-skinned male his drink. She sat formally across him as he sipped his drink and made sure his hat was covering his face; when he had left his party before, he had sure to take his things with him.

“So, what do I call you?” Kim asked. 

“Yojimbo (bodyguard) is fine,” he answered.

“You know it’s all right to tell me your real name, Yojimobo-san,” Kim pointed out. 

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” he replied. Obviously, he was not a trusting creature.

He did not care how much his employers swore it was all right for him to speak openly around the entertainers, he still did not believe that. He would never believe it. He was not saying anything to anyone about anything. 

“You’re a rather protective person, huh?” Kim guessed.

“So what if I am? None of your business,” he pointed out bluntly. 

She sighed. “You got me there.” 

“I’m sure I do,” he said and then he glanced up at her. “You know, you can have a drink, too.” Drinking alone was not much fun, especially when someone was around him who was not a complete and total ass so far.

Kim smiled a bit and shook her head to decline on the offer. The bodyguard was not having that, though. He figured if he could stand drinking with Junior, then he would have no problem drinking with the girl since she had not proven she was an idiot.

“Come on, pour yourself one,” he pretty much commanded, nodding toward the sake bottle.

Kim decided she might as well do it to avoid arousing any suspicions. She did not have anything against sake, but she typically did not drink. She got kicks and enjoy out of other things in life. She poured herself a cup and began to sip it. 

“It’s better to drink with company,” he commented in a low tone before sipping his drink. “Which is probably why I don’t drink as often as I’d like to.” The sake was good, though.

“You don’t have any friends to drink with?” Kim asked, tilting her head a little. 

He scoffed slightly. “You’ve met the people I’m hanging out with. They’d be the group I know and that’s about it.”

“So, you do like them?” Kim guessed. 

He was quiet for a moment and sipped his drink. “No, not really. It’s just I picked them. You might not get it, but it’s nice to be able to choose who you’ll be around and what you’ll do with them.”

Kim thought about it. She did typically choose whom she got to be around and what she would do with them. She and Ron ran around doing almost whatever they wanted, no matter how inappropriate other people might think it was, and they had always been able to do that. When Yori joined their duo, she also got to run around and do almost anything that she wanted, which she enjoyed thoroughly. Yori sort of reminded Kim and Ron that they had always lived unique sorts of lives by being able to pick who they desired to be around and do anything that came to mind. Everyone could not do that and she knew that. She bet it was great for someone to do such a thing if they could not do it before. 

“Do you enjoy your gilded cage?” he asked out of the blue.

“There are worse cages,” Kim pointed out.

He nodded. Apparently, he had found some company who could actually think considering no one else he was with would have thought to say something like that. It was a small relief, like being given warm soup on a freezing cold day, and he hoped that the little shamisen player continued to offer up good responses. It might improve his disposition, especially since he did not want to be there anyway.

“A cage is still a cage, though,” he stated.

“If that’s the case, one can lament, accept, or escape,” she replied.

“Which have you chosen?” he inquired before taking another nip from his cup. 

Kim thought on it for a long moment. “I’m not sure yet.”

“If you’re looking for advice, I’d suggest escape,” he said. “But, that’s just if you’re looking for advice.” 

“Did you escape a cage, Yojimbo-san?” she asked.

“Maybe I did, maybe I’m just offering up conversation,” he answered cryptically. It seemed that he was trying to offer up intriguing, yet pointless conversation if his answers were going to be so mysterious. 

“If I ever make a decision, I’m sure I’ll take your advice,” Kim replied. She was certain if she ever was in a cage of any kind, no matter how nice, she would escape. She tried her best to not stay some place or do something that she did not want to, unless her parents or grandmother were making her do it.

“Good. You should always do what you want to do.”

Kim nodded in agreement with that and he noticed. He did not expect her to understand and he was in some disbelief she agreed with his words. He did not see how it was possible for her to comprehend his what he said or what he meant since she had probably spent her whole life in her current cage, doing what others told her to do. So it was a little odd for her to agree that she should always do what she wanted since she had probably never done anything she truly desired in her whole life. But, then he thought it was just the girl pretending to comprehend, trying to get close to him. She was paid to be pleasant and friendly, after all. When that thought entered his mind, he stopped talking. 

“Yojimbo-san?” Kim said after a minutes of silence.

“Pour me some more to drink,” he ordered in a curt tone. 

“Yes, sir,” Kim replied and her mouth almost could not form the words. Her hands did not want to pour drink, but she forced herself to do it. “Have I upset you, Yojimbo-san?” she asked because he had stopped conversing and his tone with her was different from when he had been talking almost casually with her.

“No, but sometimes people need to just enjoy the silence,” he answered. 

Kim nodded and sat quietly. The bodyguard did the same while sipping his drink. He glanced up at Kim every now and then, but his hat hid his eyes and masked his actions. She had her hands resting on her knees with her hands balled up into slight, somewhat tense fists. She did not appear very uncomfortable, but there was something about her that seemed off, but he could not figure out what it was.

He decided to inspect the petite entertainer while they were just being quiet, hiding underneath his hat to avoid seeming interested in the little hostesses. The red hair stood out, cascading down her shoulders like beams of the morning sun. _It’s the same color as fox fur_ , he thought. And then he found himself looking at the shadow she cast, just to make sure the girl was not a fox. He then mentally scolded himself for doing something he decided was silly.

 _She’s cute_ , he noted, but then again, he reminded himself they were made up to look cute. He did not see why men wasted their money on such an image. She was a pretense, a show.

She was just some image on display, some made up story, so why did anyone bother? Was that it? The image was worth more than anything else? That would not stand up any place that counted. He bet she could not do anything worthwhile, aside from playing the shamisen, but that was not really useful. 

Kim felt the bodyguard’s eyes on her, but she could not tell if he stared her or not because of his hat. She was not sure why he studied her. Maybe it was something that he normally did when he was drinking with someone. Kim decided to just sit there and let him examine her because she could not do much else, except maybe return the favor. 

She stole a few glances at him to try to put together a picture of what he was like and if he would yield anything useful to her cause. He seemed guarded, even though he was supposed to be relaxing. Even right now, his whole body was rigid. He seemed tense and she was not sure why. Was that how he always was or was he just guarded around her? And why was he so guarded around her? 

“Girl,” he said, disrupting Kim’s thoughts. He planned to ask something.

“Akako,” she corrected him. 

“Girl,” he repeated and then he decided he did not care about the question that had been on his mind. “Thanks for the wine.”

Kim just nodded; it was something she was supposed to do. He glanced at her and then decided he did not care about what she could or could not do, even if she seemed to have a slight intellect considering their brief conversation and the fact that she had not managed to totally piss him off like many people did when they were around him for more than a minute. She did not matter, though.

-8-8-8-8-

Vivian frowned as she sat in a room with Bonnie, Kim, and Yori. Yori did not understand why she was even there. It was not like she had done anything wrong. She had sat there and played her flute the whole night like she was supposed to. Technically, Kim had not done anything wrong either.

“Bonnie, I thought it was understood that Akako and Ayame were to stay in the room and play their instruments,” Vivian said in an even tone.

“Vivian-san, I can’t control it if Akako-chan leaves with someone,” Bonnie argued in a level tone because she knew better than to raise her voice at Vivian. 

“I told you to look out for them and not to let them leave the room. They’re not ready for that,” Vivian pointed out.

“But, I can’t control her,” the tanned female debated.

Vivian did not want to hear that, especially since she knew how domineering Bonnie could be. If Bonnie wanted to stop Akako, then she would have done everything in her power to get the girl to stay there. Sure, Akako might have put up a fight, but things would have gotten to the point where someone would have been called and Akako would not have been left in a room alone with silent bodyguard. 

“Bonnie, you can go,” Vivian dismissed the turquoise-eyed female.

Bonnie was about to argue more, but the look in Vivian’s eyes told her to just leave while she had the chance. It was never a good idea to anger or provoke the boss, so Bonnie did not even open her mouth. She calmly climbed to her feet and exited the room. 

The others watched her leave and then turned to each other as the door was shut firmly. Kim and Yori looked at the floor rather than at Vivian, trying to seem ashamed as best they could, even though they were certain they had not done anything wrong. Vivian eyed them for a long moment.

The pair was not sure if they were going to be scolded or not and they would rather not be admonished by the blond. They had to fight off the urge to squirm a bit. They had discovered Vivian could reprimand with the best of them from their short stay with her. They had strict martial arts instructors who were kinder than Vivian was if they messed something up. The way she spoke to them when admonishing them, if they were not humiliated when the talking started, they certainly were when it ended, and she was so damned polite about it, which made it worse somehow. Her very presence made them nervous in a way they could not associate with anyone else in their lives, except maybe Director Betty.

“Akako, everything was all right?” Vivian asked in a surprisingly understanding tone, which actually went by the ill-at-eased redhead.

Kim thought she was going to be chastised for disobeying the blond and she missed the almost sympathetic tone. She expected harsh words because she had left more than her corner, after all. She had left the whole room and the supposed watchful eye of her “big sisters.” She knew better than to offer up any excuses for her behavior, but she might as well answer the question, she figured. 

“Everything was all right. Yojimbo-san only wanted to be left alone,” Kim answered, doing her best to not fidget as she responded.

“Yet you stayed in the room with him until his party left,” Vivian noted. 

“He didn’t want to return to them and he wanted someone to pour him drinks,” the redhead explained.

“All right. I know I told you already, but you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. I mean, Betty-san did trust me to take care of you and I’m pretty sure that having you do something you don’t want to isn’t taking care of you,” the blond commented. 

“Nothing happened,” Kim insisted. Yes, she had stayed in the room with the bodyguard until his people left, but she had done that for the exact reason she gave. Every now and then, he would say something and they would have a little conversation, but nothing else.

“All right, all right. Nothing has to happen either,” Vivian said, looking at both of them.

Vivian did not want the spies doing anything they would not usually do on a job or anything they might feel compromised with. She had a feeling they were not just any spies, especially from the way Betty had pled with her to take care of the girls. There had been a look in Betty’s single, onyx eye that seemed to state she was at more risk than ever using the girls and could not afford something disagreeable happening to the pair. She did not want to do anything that might get Betty into trouble or worse. 

Vivian wished Betty did not do such things to compound the stress in her life by using seemingly special ladies for the assignment. Although Betty might not act it, Vivian knew the one-eyed woman was not cold and hard like a stone all of the time. There was a side to her that almost no one got to see and because of that, Vivian wanted to keep her out of trouble if possible. Someone had to protect Betty, she thought, considering Betty protected everyone else. Someone needed to be the soft comfort for the person who guarded the rest of the world from harsh realities.

“We understand,” Kim and Yori said at the same time. 

“But, if we don’t do something they request, would that not be suspicious?” Yori wondered out loud. She did not really like the mission as that thought came to mind because it did seem like there was a possibility they might have to compromise their moral values for the sake of the mission.

“You don’t have to do what they request. If they ask you for something you don’t want to do and they push the issue, you can come to me. I don’t want either of you fighting with clients, though. You don’t have any weapons on you, do you?” Vivian inquired. 

Kim and Yori looked in opposite directions, which sort of answered that question. Of course they had weapons! First of all, there were so many great places to hide weapons when it came to a formal kimono and elaborate obi. Second of all, they needed weapons just in case things got out of hand. Third of all, they always carried weapons. They slept with weapons.

“All right, ladies, hand them all over,” Vivian ordered.

Kim and Yori looked at the blond and then they looked at each other. They turned back to Vivian and sighed. They began to disarm themselves. Vivian had never seen so many different kinds of shuriken in one place as they piled up all of the projectiles on their persons. Yori was also carrying poisons, kept in small, egg-shaped containers. Kim had two tanto (dagger) on her on. When they were finally done, Vivian was incredulous, her mouth trembling and her eyebrow twitching as she stared at the stack.

“What kind of girls are you?” the blond muttered in disbelief while looking at the foot high pile.

“Cautious,” Yori answered the rhetorical question. 

The sound of her voice helped Vivian recover her composure. “Well, you’ll get these back when you’re done here. You can go to your room now.” 

The pair did not argue that and they left the room. They were glad when they were able to get out of the makeup covering their faces. They could only wonder how they would sleep with their hair done up as it was, but they would have to figure something out. 

“Do you think we’ll have to wake up early for more training?” Yori asked as they moved around each other to prepare for bed.

Kim shrugged. “I’m not sure. I mean, she’s already thrown us in the deep in. Thankfully, we didn’t sink.” 

Yori sighed in relief and Kim smiled. It was relieving to have gotten the first banquet out of the way, like they had walked through a torture chamber and come out unscathed. From now on, it would only get easier.

“Did you learn anything?” Yori asked Kim as they settled on their futons. 

“No, not really, except maybe the bodyguard doesn’t like the people he’s hanging out with. He didn’t talk about their plot at all,” Kim answered.

“Really? The other two just kept going on about how things were going to be when they finally ruled the empire,” Yori replied.

“That’s great that you learned some stuff. Did they say how or when?” Kim inquired. If they had let such information flow, then she and her friend might actually be able to go home soon. 

“No, they didn’t. Maybe they’ll be back tomorrow and we can learn about it then,” the ninja said.

Kim nodded. Maybe they would not be there too long if the elder Senior and Drakken were as talkative on their other visits as they were that day. Maybe they would even show up days in a row, which would give the spies a quick chance to gather everything that they need. And then, they could go back home.

-8-8-8-8-

Drakken and his bodyguard returned to their home, which was a cave on the outskirts of the city. The cavern was done up in such a way that it was more like a home than just a filthy cave. As they entered the hidden lair, the bodyguard began pulling off the things obscuring his features. The mask and the hat went flying in a manner that showed the wearer was annoyed with the items, even though the hat was a liked piece much of the time. 

“Shego, I really wish you wouldn’t just throw your stuff around,” Drakken huffed as he lit some lanterns make the cave somewhat illuminated.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t need to have that stuff if we didn’t have to meet them in a teahouse every time we meet up,” the bodyguard huffed.

As it turned out, the bodyguard was a woman. Her smooth face was tight, as it usually was. It had to do with the fact that she had to dress like a guy just to go to a meeting over nothing as far as she was concerned, even though she dressed like that most of the time. But, that was beside the point in her opinion.

All they did was talk about what things were going to be like when they took over, which she thought was stupid anyway. They were mostly pointless meetings and she hated that Drakken always wanted her in attendance. There was almost no point for her to be there, especially since Drakken did not listen to her to stop talking about the damned plan.

She understood the Seniors trusted those entertainers to keep their mouths shut, but she did not trust anyone. She knew the Shogun had spies everywhere and she was willing to bet there were some in every teahouse and brothel in the city. And that was why she did not talk when she was there. Well, there was that and she was always so bothered with being there that she could only focus on the one good thing about the place — the alcohol.

She thought it would have been wiser if the Seniors met with her and Drakken at their lair. But, the Seniors would never do something like that. They would want to be some place that showed class, was comfortable, and that they had money to burn. Besides, Junior would also prefer some place with women and booze since those seemed to be his two favorite things in life. Of course, this made her happy to dress like a man when he was around or she would have had to kill him already, she knew.

“That’s where he always wants to meet and right now with him supplying the funding for everything, we’ll have to meet there. Besides, they serve good food,” Drakken commented.

“You do know the whole point of going there has very little to do with food, right?” she asked. 

He thought on that for a moment. “Well, the drink is good, too.”

Shego decided not to say anything to that. She went to her room to leave Drakken to tinker with whatever toys he was working on for the plot. _He’s such an idiot_ , she thought, just like that moron Junior. Of course, he was at least a little adorable while Junior was just a jerk.

She could not believe Junior had actually arranged for her to be alone with that little redheaded maiko. He did not know Shego was actually a female, so he probably thought he was being hospitable by giving up a woman he probably wanted. Though he did have some kind of thing going on with Bonnie, he more than likely was fascinated with the new maiko because of her red hair. 

Shego wondered if she should be flattered he would offer her the redhead. She was not flattered, though. In fact, she was insulted if that was what he was doing because no one deserved to be passed off as a gift as if the person was an object.

“But, that idiot probably thought he was making some great sacrifice for me to show me how cool he was,” Shego frowned.

At least the redhead understood there was a time to be quiet, even though she did not seem to understand that Shego would have preferred to be left alone. The pale female crawled into bed and was about to go to sleep when she realized there was a tune stuck in her head. She thought about the song for a moment and remembered it was what the shamisen player and flute player had performed. It was a nice tune and they were talented girls. Too bad they were stuck in their gilded cage, she thought as she drifted off into a light sleep. _But, some people can’t handle freedom_.

-8-8-8-8-

Drakken did not think anything of Shego disappearing into her room. She often did that when they got back from a meeting. He did not need her around after meetings anyway. He had all the materials he needed to forge weapons.

“She could stick around and watch, though,” he grumbled. She used to be a little more involved in their operations than she was now.

He used to have to spend Shego out to steal some things if they could not afford to buy them or if the items were illegal, but they everything they needed now. Maybe that made Shego was restless, especially since no one ever really attacked him and she was his bodyguard. She did not want much to do anymore.

Shego often considered her job as his bodyguard as fitting as a pair of adult zori on a child. She tried it on for size and even though it did not fit, she continued on for whatever reason. It was not like he often got into trouble where she needed to use her vast martial artist skills. Her stealth skills came in handy for him more often than anything else and he had not been using those lately, so she had little to do with her time.

He was willing to bet that Shego would be back in her usual form when the fighting started and when he was ruling half of the empire. Little did he know, Shego did not care anything about him ruling half of the empire. She thought the fact that he settled for half just showed he was an imbecile. She had no problem with telling him that, too, but he did not listen. 

“It’s not like it’ll always be half,” he muttered to himself.

Drakken believed himself to be a genius and he thought that what they were doing proved that. The world would know of his genius, too, once he managed to take over the country. The world would know how great he was when he ruled over his own state of Drakkon.

“First, Drakkon and then the world,” he chuckled darkly.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Kim and Shego end up stuck together again.


	5. Tell Me a Tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

5: Tell Me a Tale

Shego could not believe it, but she once again shared an empty room with the little redheaded maiko. She recalled the girl’s name was Akako, but she was not using the girl’s name for anything. She did not really care to know the maiko’s name. 

Besides, she liked the indignant look that blazed in the girl’s eyes when she refused to call her by name. There was some spirit there. Maybe she was more than just an image in a gilded cage. Maybe.

They were alone once more thanks to Junior. He was drunk again and swore that “his shy, skinny friend,” which were his exact words when referring to Shego that night, could use some “pretty company” again. She almost snapped at him, wanting him to know they were not friends. But, that might have thrown a kink the plans with Lord Senior and she refused to be the one to make things go sideways. That was Drakken’s job.

She wished Junior would stop trying to do her favors, though. She supposed it could have been worse. He could have been trying to share Bonnie with her and she had already gotten a vibe from that girl that if they were alone, she would strangle the blue-eyed female. 

The vibe she got from Akako was different, but she still did not trust the girl. So, she just sat there with Akako and let the slender entertainer pour her drinks. Akako seemed content with that, even though she seemed a little anxious too from her body language, like it made her nervous to just sit there and do nothing.

She watched the girl’s nerves jump under her skin sometime, which seemed a little weird. Akako was different from the other girls, but not in a way Shego could put her finger on. She was graceful and elegant, but in a different manner. Shego figured if she watched long enough and was bored enough, she would figure it out with time. She hoped it did not come to that, though.

Kim disliked just sitting there, only moving when the bodyguard needed a refill. It did not help matters that she was not getting any information from the bodyguard in regards to the plot to overthrow the government. She was used to being active most of the time and her body never appreciated doing nothing.

So, as she sat there with her hands gripping her kimono at her knees, she began tapping her thumbs against her knees. Shego noticed the behavior and it got on her nerves before a minute even past. She glared down at the offending digits, but the movement did not stop. 

“You got a problem?” the bodyguard asked in a bit of a curt manner. She thought the question might get the teen to quit the irksome movement with her thumbs.

“No, Yojimbo-san,” Kim answered in the soft tone she had adopted when speaking as a maiko. She used the tone to avoid possibly getting into any trouble with Vivian over sounding rude to anyone.

“Doesn’t seem that way,” Shego commented. She knew apprehensive behavior when she saw it and she could only wonder what the redhead’s problem was. She had not done anything to the girl, so she wished the teen would calm down because her twitching was annoying. “You know, you don’t have to be nervous. I’m not going to do anything to you,” she tried to assure the petite maiko.

“I know, Yojimbo-san,” Kim replied. 

Kim could tell the bodyguard was not planning to hurt her or force her into anything. He (Kim was still questioning that status, but as far as she knew the guard was a male) seemed to want nothing more than to lie around and drink sake. He did not seem to drink in excess, so she did not have to worry about how he might act when he was drunk, but she kept in mind he might change at anytime during the night. It just did not seem likely that he might change from what she could tell. Her thumbs continued on, though.

“Then why don’t you calm down,” Shego suggested because she really wanted the girl to stop tapping her thumbs or she might actually break them. It was just irksome. She hated it when someone was jumpy around her for no reason. If she wanted to scare the maiko, she could, but that was beneath her in her opinion.

“I am calm,” Kim tried to assure the bodyguard. She was mostly calm. She had already been assured she did not have to do anything with the bodyguard to compromise herself and that was enough for her to be a bit easy. She just hated sitting there. 

A frown cut across Shego’s face. “Then what’s with your hands?” 

“Oh.” Kim stopped knocking her digits lightly against her body. 

“Why were you doing that?” Shego inquired. Now that the action stopped, she could see the entertainer was not frightened of her, but she still seemed anxious about something. It was one thing to sit formally upright and everything, but she doubted she would have been able to knock the teen over with a house as tense as she was.

“No, I’m just not used to sitting around like this,” Kim explained, glancing around the room. 

“No?”

“No, I usually like to keep busy.”

Shego nodded. She could understand that only somewhat. She liked to relax when she could. But, she supposed if she was being forced to sit with someone, she would rather be doing something than just sitting there, especially when she was with Drakken and the Seniors. It was almost painful, like having a trillion needles slowly poked in her eye, when she had to sit with those three and there was really nothing for her to do. She looked around for something the maiko might be able to do that would not annoy her if only to get the painted female to stop tapping her hands.

“Why don’t you play your shamisen for me,” Shego suggested. When she had heard the redhead play the first time, the tune was stuck in her head for the past few days. In fact, she had been humming the tune when she and her party had returned that night for another meeting. Kim and Yori had been playing a different song, but it was just as lovely as the other one.

“Yes, Yojimbo-san,” the olive-eyed teen answered in the most demure tone that she could mutter. It was a voice that was usually reserved for her grandmother, but it worked well for her current mission. She also gave a slight bow of her head.

Kim reached back and grabbed her shamisen, which had been resting against the wall. She began playing the instrument and Shego nodded slightly. The bodyguard decided the girl played well and it was a nice sound to relax to. As time passed, Shego ended up just listening to the music and she did not realize she had long ago finished her drink. 

“Yojimbo-san,” Kim said.

“Hmm?” Shego replied. 

“Would you like me to fill your cup again?”

“Huh?” Shego then looked down at her empty cup. “No, that’s all right. I’ve had enough for one night. You can stop, too.” 

Kim nodded and she ceased playing the shamisen. She was glad to stop, even though she noticed her music soothed the bodyguard. Maybe if she got to play for him a few more times, he might open up to her and trust her once they were able to connect through the music. He might even eventually share some information about the plans to overthrow the Shogun.

Shego tipped her hat over her face a little more for lack of a better thing to do, even though the hat did its job without that action. It had been concealing her profile to the point she could barely see beyond it. She had no idea the shamisen could sound like the definition of peace, but the way the redhead strummed the instrument, it was heavenly. It was unsettling, which was why she told the girl to stop. But, now that the music was done and the room was silent, she wanted something to do.

“Hey, girl,” Shego said. 

“Akako,” Kim corrected the bodyguard.

“Girl,” Shego repeated. She was not about to be corrected by anybody, but especially not a maiko. She would call the redhead whatever it was that came to mind and eventually the girl would have to accept it.

“Yes, Yojimbo-san?” Kim asked through clenched teeth. Even though Akako was not her name, she would rather hear that than to be called “girl.” She was not even a girl. She was grown woman. It was just that she had to be extra-polite to the bodyguard and cater to his whims as that was in the job description. 

“Who taught you how to play the shamisen?” Shego asked.

“My grandmother,” Kim answered without thinking. 

“She taught you well. I tried to play it when I was little,” the bodyguard admitted, also not really thinking. Perhaps that could be blamed on the relaxed state of mind that had been induced by the melody.

“What happened?”

“Well, I didn’t get right off the bat, so I slammed it against a tree and decided it was stupid instrument, anyway,” Shego said with a bit of a laugh. It was the truth. She had tried to learn the shamisen when she was a child, but it seemed too hard and it never sounded right when she plucked the strings. So, she quickly grew to hate it and had a ball breaking it against a tree. Only ladies learned how to play, anyway, and she had not considered herself a lady in a long time.

“It _is_ a stupid instrument,” Kim concurred. She hated everything about the damned thing, especially not having a choice in playing it.

Shego shrugged. She still liked the shamisen it would seem. She just was not cut out for playing the string instrument. But, Kim played it very well and she would not mind hearing Kim play. 

“You hate it, yet you play it,” Shego pointed out. She said that because Kim liked pointing out how the bodyguard hung around people she did not like and seemed to come to a place that the protector did not like.

“Well, if you met my grandmother, you’d know it’s better to just do what she says than to argue the matter,” Kim remarked with a small laugh. She did not realize she spoke in the present tense about her grandmother, but it thankfully seemed to go by her patron, too, since someone in Kim’s position was not supposed to have any ties with her family.

“I don’t know about that. I always find it’s fun to argue.”

“You don’t seem like you argue a lot,” Kim commented. From what she could tell, the guardian was rather laid back, but they were in a relaxed setting. The bodyguard was probably different out in the real world, just like she was. 

“Well, not much to argue with you about, unless you don’t pour my drinks fast enough,” Shego remarked.

“Is that a hint that you want another drink?” the teen asked with a little twinkle in her eyes and a hint of a smile.

“When it comes to drinks, I don’t hint. I figure you’d know that by now,” the pale woman replied with a smirk that Kim could not really see because Shego had on her hat.

“I did notice a little,” the olive-eyed female said with a little giggle. 

Shego chuckled a bit, too. Akako was a welcomed change from what Shego was used to being around, even though she did not realize it. There were no harsh exchanges like when Shego spoke to Drakken. There was no reason to roll her eyes like she did at least once a minute when Drakken and Senior were going back and forth with their great plan. But, since talking and being around Akako was so different, it would explain why Shego was not so irked the next time Junior suggested she should be alone with Akako.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Akako,” Shego sighed.

“Yes, Yojimbo-san?” Kim asked. 

“Why don’t you just tackle me while you’re at it?” Shego suggested.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry.” Kim blushed and then sat up super-straight.

The pair was alone in a room, which was becoming their usual with their current meeting. This was their fifth in less than a month. The reason Shego had said the girl’s name was because she could tell that Kim was staring at her, even though she had her hat pulled down over her eyes. She could just feel those olive eyes on her and she was right about that. 

Kim was trying her best to get a look at the bodyguard’s face from under the hat, especially since the mask was not on; the cloth covering was lying limp on the floor by the guard’s feet. She was still trying to figure out if the bodyguard was indeed a male. Something seemed, well, not right about Yojimbo-san and she had the notion in her head it was because he looked like a female. She had glanced at the bodyguard’s face on occasion, but it always very brief, and all that did was have her think _he_ might actually be a _she_.

Shego assumed she was being stared at for another reason. People stared at her quite often. It had been like that for a long time now. She was odd looking, after all. Her skin was an awkward whitish green color and some people had little problem with gawking at her as if she was a puppet show there for their pleasure and curiosity.

“You wouldn’t like it if I stared at you, would you?” Shego pointed out, even though as soon as the words left her mouth, she thought it was a stupid question. As a maiko, the redhead probably enjoyed stares and attention. It meant she could probably make a lot of money, after all.

“Well, I wouldn’t like it, but I’d be used to it,” Kim answered, more honestly than she meant to. Well, it was too late to take back now.

“I’ll bet you’re used to it,” Shego teased, something of a leer in her voice.

“What do you mean by that?” Kim inquired, trying her best to sound normal, but her voice was a little tense. Was Yojimbo-san trying to offend her? She was used to being stared at, but it was not in a pleasant fashion like Shego assumed.

Shego wondered what was with the girl’s tone. She thought that was what geisha liked — someone paying attention to them, staring at them, and acting like they were the most amazing thing to ever live. It would more than likely add up to money. Had she judged the redhead wrong? She doubted it and now she was going to prove herself right. 

“You know you want people to stare at you, to take in your beauty,” Shego said and then she realized she had practically called the girl beautiful. Now, it was not a lie, but she thought the makeup made it hard to be a lie. Maybe the redhead was not beautiful when her face paint was off.

“Take in my beauty?” Kim scoffed, rolling her eyes. People did not stare at her because they thought she was beautiful, _ever_.

“Oh, you got a sob story you want to tell me? Crying that they stared at you because you’re disfigured in some creepy way or something like that?” Shego mocked her, waving the whole matter off.

Kim’s face twitched as she fought off a frown. “You don’t know me, Yojimbo-san, and you don’t know what my life is like.”

“Okay, fine, make me cry,” the bodyguard said with an exaggerated sigh as a further taunt to her companion. 

“You might just see the face paint and nice kimono and everything and assume that people swear I’m lovely when they see me, but people stare at me because of the same reason Senior-san thinks I’m exotic. They look at me and then they have to check my shadow. They follow me around and whisper things about me. ‘I bet you she’s a fox,’ ‘oh, I saw her change,’ ‘she always runs when she sees a dog.’ And I have to listen to this all the time. If that’s a good kind of staring, then you can have it,” the redhead replied.

“Hey, if you want to trade reasons that people stare, I’ll take that one,” Shego stated. 

“Oh, so you have a sob story?” Kim countered. 

The pale woman laughed a bit. She guessed she should not have called Kim’s bluff earlier if she did not want her own words thrown back in her face. Well, she supposed she had to top the redhead now. After all, there was no way she could just let the teen think that she won their little argument.

“You’ve got the red hair. All right, it’s troublesome, but if it was really annoying, you could always throw on a wig or dye. I’ve got green skin, Akako-chan,” Shego stated soundly, throwing the “chan” at the end of the name to further tease Kim. It was like that word would make her statement all the more powerful.

“I’ve seen stranger things,” Kim said in a dismissive tone. She really had and stopped noticing her patron’s skin color about the second visit in. 

“Than green skin?” the bodyguard asked in disbelief. She scoffed a little, too, to further show she felt the girl was being artificial with her statement.

“Yeah,” Kim replied with a strong nod.

“How could you have seen stranger things? And besides, you were just staring at me because of the skin thing,” Shego pointed out, feeling she would claim victory from that fact. 

“Not because of your skin. I just wanted to see your whole face,” the redhead admitted plainly. She did not think to be ashamed of the confession. It just did not register to her brain to feel sheepish for a reason that had to do with her present company, but she did not realize it.

“Why? You’re a nosy little thing,” Shego commented with slightly wide eyes. She was a bit stunned the entertainer was not eyeing her because she was green, but she hid it rather well and Kim could not see her face anyway to know she was slightly surprised.

“Well, I haven’t seen your whole face despite how many times I’ve seen you. I was wondering what you look like,” Kim confessed. She was curious for that and if seeing the bodyguard’s whole face for more than a brief second might answer the question if Yojimbo-san was a man or a woman. 

“You shouldn’t wonder about things that don’t concern you. It lets you live longer.”

“Are you threatening me, Yojimbo-san?” Kim asked in a playful tone. She even smiled in an almost teasing manner.

Kim did not notice it, but she had become quite comfortable around the odd bodyguard. It might have had something to do with the fact that Yojimbo-san acted so laid back when they were around each other. He did not ask anything of her that was outlandish, even though Kim took some offense with having to pour drinks all of the time, but that was because at heart Kim was a samurai and also liked doing what she wanted. Still, it was easy to talk with the bodyguard, when he wanted to talk anyway and that seemed to set Kim at ease. 

There was also the fact that they spent hours together when they saw each other. She rarely spent so much time with people. They conversed about the shamisen sometimes or other instruments. They had some mildly philosophical discussions on life, surprising each other in agreeing on some points, like one should do what one wished with life. Of course, Shego thought that was more talk than anything else from Kim since the maiko was shut away in the teahouse.

“You’ll know when I’m threatening you, Akako-chan,” Shego replied, her tone was also lighthearted. A smile tugged at her lips.

“Well, if you get around to it, just a warning, I’m not easy as you might think, Yojimbo-san,” the redhead commented.

Shego laughed. She liked bantering with Akako. She was not so opposed to coming out now when her party wanted to go talk about their plans and everything. It was good to get away from them and talk with someone she did not feel the urge to shove her sword down the person’s throat, even if the person did seem to think highly of herself.

“You talk big for a person that pours my drinks and plays me songs on command,” Shego retorted. 

“Just because that’s all you’ve seen me do doesn’t mean it is all I do. Just like because all I see you do is lie there like a lazy frog and drink doesn’t mean that’s all you do,” Kim pointed out.

“You got me there.”

Kim smiled just a little, which made Shego smile, too. The redhead was a curious creature because she was not acting as modest as the other entertainers, which was intriguing. Kim considered the bodyguard was a curious creature, too, because Shego did not seem to want to do anything that her “big sisters” told her many men would try when alone with one of them. Yojimbo-san liked to talk and nothing more.

-8-8-8-8-

“That bodyguard seems to have taken a liking to you,” Vivian commented, speaking to Kim. They were alone in a room. The blond was just checking up on Kim as she had a habit of doing with the redhead, and also with Yori. She watched over them like a mother hen when she could and when she was not scolding them for whatever reason. 

“Not really. He still won’t even tell me his name,” Kim replied, which was a little frustrating. Hours of easy company and companionship and she could not even get a name.

“So, you’re not getting anything from him when he takes you off to be alone?” the blond asked with a strange glint in her eye. It made the question seem like a tease and serious at the same time. 

“He just doesn’t like being around the other fellows and he just lies there and drinks,” Kim answered with a bit of a blush as she realized what the teasing was meant to imply. The color was visible on her face because she was not wearing her maiko makeup. 

“You should work your charm on him. Maybe he’ll spill his guts,” Vivian remarked with a smirk and a little wiggle to give the girl an idea of what she meant. 

Kim blushed even more as she realized what Vivian dared to suggest. She would never do something like that! She was engaged for crying out loud. Sure, she was promised to a jerk who she probably could beat up if she felt like it and she really did not have a say in the engagement since it happened when they were children. But, she would never think to do anything like that with the bodyguard, even though he was a lot more interesting than her fiancé.

“I’m sure he’s good looking, especially without the hat and mask,” Vivian continued on because it was fun to play with the samurai considering the stress the redhead and Yori had put her through while she was training them.

They still put her through stress once they were in the party because she was not sure what they would do when they were out of her sight. It was not like she could trust Bonnie to watch them since it was clear Bonnie looked at them as a threat. Bonnie seemed to think she was going to lose Junior’s attentions to the two musicians, especially since he seemed to fall under a spell whenever Yori played her flute now. 

“Surely, he’d tell you everything if you really wanted him to,” Vivian continued to poke fun at Kim.

The redheaded samurai was not too sure how she should respond to such words. She knew she should take offense to the statement and she did, but she was not even sure where to begin huffing about it. Vivian seemed to notice she had overstepped the teasing line. 

“Don’t take it too hard, Akako. I’m only playing. You shouldn’t compromise your beliefs for something you might not even get,” Vivian said in her usual tone.

“May I go to my room now, please?” Kim requested. She did not want to be around Vivian anymore because of those words, even if she was playing. She did not want to think of Yojimbo-san in that manner.

“Go ahead.” Vivian waved Kim off. 

Kim retreated to her room, where Yori was already lying down. The redhead quickly did the same. Yori looked at Kim as soon as they were on the same level. Kim could feel the eyes on her, so she turned to face her fellow spy.

“Nothing happened,” Kim assured Yori. It was becoming their routine for her to say that because Yori did worry that something would happen to her while she was alone with Yojimobo-san. 

Yori breathed a sigh of relief. She feared something might happen between her friend and the bodyguard. She trusted that Kim would not allow herself to be dishonored, but she did not want Kim to be in such a position.

“Has he told you anything?” the ninja eventually asked. 

“Nothing really. You got anything?”

“Nothing much. Drakken-san just boasts that his weapons are great and Senior-sama talks about how good that is and wants to know when they’ll be able to arm his men and then Drakken-san goes on that genius takes time. It’s all very tedious,” Yori reported with a bored shake of her head. 

“After that first night, I thought we’d be out of here by now with how openly they talked about everything,” Kim admitted.

“I thought the same.” 

They both sighed. At the rate they were going, they would be there for a while. They would definitely be there longer than they wanted. At least they could confirm there was a plot afoot, but Betty wanted specifics. 

Betty wanted to know where the weapons were and what types of weapons they were. She wanted to know who the men were that would wield those weapons. She wanted to be able to collect those weapons before they were used and she wanted to know the safest place to collect everyone responsible for this plot. In short, Betty wanted to know everything.

“How can we have just as much now as we did the first night we were here?” Kim wondered aloud. 

They were going to have to put up with things until Betty was satisfied, which was a depressing thought. It drew a sigh from Yori. She missed her husband, after all.

The couple had already been parted for a month. Yori felt almost empty without his presence being near her and she secretly pined for him almost as if she was involved in a one-sided love affair. Little did she know, but he was doing the same while worrying deeply that something might have happened to her, even though he was getting assurances from Betty that his beloved was “fine.”

-*-(New day)-*-

“You asked for me, Yojimbo-san?” Kim asked as she entered a room and sat down.

Shego was already in the room and lying down like she usually was. She liked reclining suddenly. She was the only person in the room because she had come on her own. She had to get out of the lair before she ended up impaling Drakken and she was not going to use her sword when doing it. How much could one cackle and brag about his genius, after all?

“I need someone to pour the sake,” Shego remarked. It was the best that she could come up with because she was not sure why she had come there when she left the lair. She had other places she could go, but instead, she went to see the little maiko.

“There are about twenty other people you could’ve called to pour sake,” Kim pointed out, almost as if she was scolding the bodyguard.

“Yeah, but I called for you, so get to pouring,” Shego replied. 

Kim rolled her eyes and moved to do as she was ordered to. As nice as it was conversing with the bodyguard, she was a little irked with having to do whatever he ordered. She put up with it, though. She could not just blow her cover or anything, after all. 

“So, where’s the rest of your party?” Kim asked. This was the first time she had been called directly to a room with the bodyguard alone. 

“Acting like idiots as usual. It’s funny to see these morons think they could rule anything and if either of them is smart, one’s going to kill the other, anyway,” Shego commented as if it was nothing, like she was talking about anything else that she would with the teen. Obviously, she was rather comfortable with the redhead because that was the first time she even referenced the plot and she had done it so casually that Kim was stunned for a moment.

“Do you really think so?” the redhead inquired. 

“Like I said, if either of them is smart, but I doubt they’re that smart,” the nonchalant bodyguard remarked.

“Is that what you would do?” Kim inquired.

“If I wanted,” was the almost frivolous response. It was clear that she meant those words, but the whole matter seemed trivial to her.

“So, it’s not what you want?” 

Shego shrugged. “These morons don’t know what it means to rule anything at all.” She waved it off with a flick of her wrist. “They don’t know what life’s about. They don’t know what life should be.” She took a sip from her cup. She doubted they truly knew what they wanted out of life and that was why they were going through with their scheme. 

Kim stared at the bodyguard for a long moment. “And you do?”

“I know what I want life to be like, but then again, I guess they know just as much. The only thing is that they’re assholes about it.”

Kim laughed a little bit because she had not expected Yojimbo-san to say that. Now she was curious as to why Yojimbo-san was involved in a plot to overthrow the government when it was clear the bodyguard did not have faith in the people looking to rule. Not to mention, the bodyguard did not seem to be in favor of the plan. It seemed like an odd thing, but she figured now was a good time to fish for information since Yojimbo-san was finally being open about things. 

“Well, why go with them on this plan if you don’t agree with it?” Kim asked.

“It’s something to do, something exciting. It’s better than sitting around here pouring drinks and playing the shamisen, I’ll bet that much,” Shego replied.

Kim scoffed. “How do you know? You haven’t done it.” 

“You don’t ever look to happy to do it,” Shego commented quite seriously.

“Really?” Kim asked with some surprise. She was not happy to do it, but she thought she hid that fairly well. 

“Nope,” the bodyguard replied. She noted Akako was just about the most reluctant geisha she had seen and she had seen more than most people would guess. The redhead clearly was not pleased with being ordered around, which made it fun to command her about and watch her try to hold in her ire.

“Well, just because I don’t look happy about it doesn’t make what I do any less than what you do,” Kim argued. 

Shego scoffed. “You’d probably give you right arm to get out of here.”

Kim opened her mouth to dispute that, but closed her mouth for a moment. She did not have a retort for more seconds than she liked, which just confirmed what Shego said. But, that did not end the discussion.

“Maybe not the right arm,” Kim conceded. After all, she needed that arm to wield her sword.

Shego laughed. It was a good idea to come there, she figured. Answers like that were why she liked hanging around the shamisen player. Being around the maiko was way better than hanging around the lair with Drakken or even sitting in a party with Drakken and the Seniors. Plus, she could get on the redhead’s nerves a little bit, which was fun as well.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim is questioned about her feelings for Yojimbo-san after disappearing with the bodyguard.


	6. Star Gazing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

6: Star Gazing

“Shego, will you move?” Drakken hollered at his bodyguard. They were in their hideaway. 

“Don’t yell at me,” she huffed.

“Then move your feet!”

“Why?” she snorted. All she was trying to do was recline against the wall and read a book with the horrible lighting she had settled for. It was either the horrible lighting in the lair or trying to read by moonlight, which she had tried before. It was probably not a good idea to try it when there was a new moon out, which was when she had done it. It was just that or murder Drakken where he stood and she tried so hard to not be the ass in this partnership. 

“Because I need those parts you’re on!” The bright red in his blue visage was almost comical.

She tossed a smirk his way. “Did it ever occur to ask you like a normal person? You know, use your inside voice?” She was going to strangle him in a moment if he did not shut up, despite the fact that she sounded so playful with him right now. 

“Will you just move your feet so I can finish my work!” he screamed at her, obviously missing her point.

“I’ll do you one better,” she commented, getting up from her sitting place on the straw mat. 

The green-skinned fighter noticed the tiny pieces she had been on. They had several mats around the cave since it would have been trying to put in wooden floors around the place. She walked out of the cave, passed all of Drakken’s cluttered workbenches and other mats with junk on them.

There were bits of his work on the floor and also tools just all over the place. Every couple of feet was a lantern to give them some light, but they did not help much since they were buried in a large tomb. She wondered just where she was going once she hit the outside. Once again, she had let her mouth get ahead of her, but she would back it up no matter what. There was no way in hell she would let anyone think they got the better of her.

Shego walked to a hill with a lone tree. She sat down and leaned against the tree. She looked up at the sky and saw the half moon peeping out from behind a cloud. She cracked open her book and squinted. Okay, it would seem she would not be able to read by moonlight thanks to those clouds. She probably should have grabbed a lantern on her way out.

 _Too late to go back now_ , she told herself. She did not want to go back in there to hear Drakken’s mouth, especially after she swore she was leaving. He would have some smart-ass remark to say and she did not want to deal with it. He could be such an annoyance when he was working on his own with all of his little gadgets and gizmos. She hated sharing a space with him when he was like that.

 _Well, what am I going to do now then?_ Hmm, she considered that question and an idea came to mind. She took off back into the city. And even though she knew just where she was heading, she did not think anything about it. She supposed it was all right as long as no one knew that she actually _liked_ someone’s company. 

It was actually pretty late at night, but she assumed that should be fine. _Those_ places had to stay open late. Of course, she did not know much about it beyond what she saw while there.

“Maybe I should just find some place to go to sleep,” she muttered as she moved. Of course, that would be a waste of time.

Shego did not sleep much and when she did it was usually when the sun was up. It worked out well since she stayed in a cave and everything. She did not have to worry about the sunlight shining in her face when she was trying to sleep. She tended to sleep in the day because she used to be a thief and it was so much easier to steal from homes, or wherever else Drakken needed her to swipe things, so she used to work mostly at night. She also just preferred to be a shadow in the dark, not garnering much attention. 

“Then original destination it is,” she told herself.

Shego made her way into the district the geisha lived in. Okay, so everything appeared to be shut down. Maybe it was later… or earlier… than she assumed. No matter. 

She had to search a few houses before she found the one she wanted. She blamed the dark for the mishap since things looked different late in the dead of night than in the early evening. Then she ran into a small problem by realizing the person she sought probably did not sleep in her makeup, so how was she supposed to know the girl? But, that was easy, she told herself. _She’d be the one with red hair, doy_. It might be hard for her to tell the red hair in the dark, but she always had a trump card if that was the case.

It did not take long for Shego to get where she wanted. She crept into the small, plain room and immediately noticed the two futons on the floor. The beds were empty, though. She was a little shocked when saw how the redhead and her roommate were sleeping. They sat up against opposite walls and as soon as she eased into the room a little more, they awoke.

Kim tackled Shego, which shocked her even more. Yori had a needle shuriken to Shego’s throat the moment she hit the floor. The bodyguard silently cursed and wondered why the hell was a trained assassin like herself being taken down by some little musicians. It seemed unreal. 

“Akako-chan, it’s me,” Shego said in a whisper to get them off of her. She had on her mask, but not her hat. She hissed a bit as she spoke, her irritation sneaking into her voice.

“Yojimbo-san?” Kim whispered, easing her hold.

“Akako-chan?” Yori echoed with a glance at Kim. Was Kim really so close to that bodyguard?

“Could you let me up?” the bodyguard requested. If they did not, she hated to think of what she would do to them. Well, what she thought she would do to them. Obviously, they were not easy wins. 

“Oh, sorry,” Kim apologized and then she turned to Yori. “It’s all right. He’s not a threat.”

Yori had figured that much out when the bodyguard addressed Kim as “Akako-chan.” The ninja tucked her shuriken back into the sleeve of her yukata. Kim ceased off of Shego and the green-skinned guard sat up. The bodyguard glanced at Yori, just to make sure the flute player did not move. 

“Yojimbo-san, what are you doing here?” Kim asked.

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out,” Shego answered as if that was obvious. 

“It’s the middle of the night,” the redhead pointed out.

“I know, but I don’t sleep too often and I didn’t have anything better to do,” the pale woman admitted. “So, you want to hang out?” she asked again. 

“If it involves just serving you drinks, I’d rather just go to sleep,” the teen answered rather seriously.

“I figured as much. I thought I’d show you some place. What do you say?”

Kim glanced at Yori, who pretended she was going back to sleep. Shego could tell it was pretense because Yori laid down on her futon. She had already busted them resting against the wall, so it was pointless to fake sleeping on the bed now. She guessed Yori was just trying to act like she was sleeping in case Kim decided to leave and then she could act like she did not know anything about it. 

Actually, Yori was pretending to go back to sleep to make sure the bodyguard was at ease and did not suspect anything of Kim. Kim appreciated the gesture, but she was not sure Yojimbo-san would fall for it. They had already sort of overplayed their hand here, after all.

“We have to be back before sunrise,” Kim informed the visitor. 

“All right.” Shego gave a nod. “Follow me and I’ll get you out of here with no problem.”

Kim nodded. She was glad Yojimbo-san said that because she would have settled right into her training and sneaked out of the place with ease, forgetting she was supposed to be a demure little musician. In fact, she had to act like she had little to no idea on how to go undetected while moving around a building, which was quite a stretch for her because it meant acting completely opposite to what she was capable of. 

The redhead left with the bodyguard in her yukata. It was a warm night, so her clothing did not bother her. She followed behind Shego, who easily got the both of them out of the house and out of the closed off distract. She made sure Kim caught up with her as she pulled the redhead toward the edge of the city.

Shego brought Kim to the hill with its lone tree where she had been at when she had attempted to read. Kim looked around and then looked back at the bodyguard. Kim wondered why she had been brought to this place.

Shego was bit confused herself as to why she brought the shamisen player to the area. While she enjoyed the redhead’s company, she could not believe she had brought her to her special, quiet spot. It had been a secret of hers for her alone for about a dozen years. She just went there when she did not have anything better to do or if something was bothering her.

“It’s actually nice up here,” the teen realized and then it hit her that she said that out loud.

“It’s better on a clear night. You can see a lot of stars and the moon and plus you get a good view of the city that you can actually see because of the moonlight,” Shego replied. 

“Well, maybe one day I can see it again with the stars and moon added to it,” the younger female commented while looking down at the city. It was a good view and she was glad to see it somewhat at least.

“I could bring you back up, if you’re a good girl anyway,” Shego teased with a smile. 

Kim laughed a bit and Shego finally took a good look at the maiko. Okay, so the olive-eyed shamisen player was cute; _like a kitten or something_ , she mentally added when she realized what she was thinking. She thought she needed the addition because she was not usually someone that found things adorable.

“So, why’d you bring me up here?” Kim asked, gaze still cast out, taking in the view. 

“Why, do you want to go back to your gilded cage?” Shego countered. She thought she was doing the redhead a favor by taking her out, so she was slightly offended that the young woman would question her about it.

“No,” Kim said honestly. She was actually glad to be out. It had been well over a month since she had seen the outside world. It felt great, as if she was let out of a cellar that she had been locked in for just as long as she had been at the teahouse. “Thank you, Yojimbo-san,” she added in a very polite and grateful tone along with a small, appreciative smile. She even bowed a little show respect for the great deed she felt was done for her.

Shego smiled a bit, too, but she was wearing her mask, so Kim could not see. Shego felt pretty good about herself and she knew why. She was appreciated for having given someone she liked freedom. She felt like she had done something to be proud of, as if she had saved someone from drowning. _People deserve to be free_. 

“Maybe you should just run away while you have the chance,” the bodyguard suggested.

“No, I think I’ll just enjoy the moment for now, but thank you so much, Yojimbo-san,” Kim replied. She truly meant that, even if she did not know it. 

“Don’t mention it,” Shego said and she shrugged, trying to downplay the moment, even though she still had that proud feeling floating through her system. Oh, it was a wonderful sensation, almost like a drug. She sat down against the tree while Kim continued to look over the view.

“So, when your friends manage to take over, who gets Edo?” the olive-eyed teen asked curiously, as if she was joking. 

“Who knows? Who cares?” Shego replied while relaxing against the tree that she was propped up against.

“Well, what do you get?” the redhead asked since the bodyguard seemed to be willing to talk about the plot once again. 

There was a shrug. “I don’t know. I’ll take my pick when they pull it off.”

“If they pull it off,” Kim said. It was not a correction, just an observation based on the people that she knew that were involved in the plan. 

“Exactly,” the pale woman stated. She supposed she could talk about the scheme with the maiko because the redhead seemed as skeptical as she did on the plot. The teen took it as an amusing joke while she looked at it as an insignificant matter because the crew she was with seemed oafish in their manners and ploys.

“I don’t get why you’d go along with this idea when you don’t seem to have much faith in them to do it and you don’t seem really interested in it,” Kim commented as she sat down next to Shego.

The pale woman shrugged slightly. “It’s something fun to do.” 

“There are other fun things to do,” the musician pointed out. 

“It’s what I want to do at the moment. You shouldn’t think about it,” Shego said, brushing the whole matter off. She did not think the maiko should trouble herself with trying to figure out why she did anything. After all, she thought that entertainer should focus on her own bothersome existence that made little sense to Shego. Why remain in a confined place if she could escape? 

“Well, what if you get caught?” Kim asked.

“If things come to that, then we’ll see, but I don’t plan on getting caught,” the bodyguard remarked. She never considered what might happen if she got caught. It was almost like asking her if she would fly to the moon. 

“What if you do, though?” the teen pressed. There was something growing inside of her like slowly spilling water that was not pleased with the notion of Yojimbo-san being arrested and executed over something he did not even seem to care about.

“It’s not something you should trouble yourself over, Akako-chan,” Shego replied, trying to discharge the inconsequential issue as if her tone was a weapon against trivial things. 

“But—” Kim tried to continue on, but the pale bodyguard interjected.

“You really shouldn’t worry about it. This is the choice I made in life, which makes it good for me either way. You shouldn’t regret your decisions just because they ended with a poor outcome for you, especially if you were enjoying it before it went sideways.”

Kim nodded because she could understand that philosophy to living. She consciously realized she respected the bodyguard for accepting the consequences of his actions, even if things did not work out the way he thought they were. Life should be lived without regrets if only to be burden-free.

“We should’ve brought your shamisen,” Shego commented. Music would definitely banish the annoying topic to the winds.

“You really like that thing, huh?” Kim asked, giving the bodyguard a long look. 

“Well, I think I both like it because you play it well, but then I also like it because you hate playing it,” the pale woman confessed. She saw no twists or troubles in admitting such a thing, especially after the other things she had been discussing rather freely. Something about the girl seemed to loosen her tongue for a reason she did not think to consider.

“You just like tormenting me,” Kim complained in playful tone, giving the bodyguard a pout. 

Shego laughed. “It is fun.”

“You’re evil. I might start calling you ‘akuma-san (1).’ It’d fit you best,” Kim replied with a scowl. 

There was a light in emerald eyes, suggesting a smile. “You call me that and I’ll just make you play the shamisen every time I see you.”

The scowl deepened and Kim shook her head. “It would only prove you’re a demon.” 

“You have no idea,” Shego replied. She smirked behind her mask. Subconsciously, she was pleased she had gone and picked up the maiko. It made the night bearable and she had forgotten she had even been attempting to read a book earlier.

Kim sat there and conversed with Shego until the sun began to peek out over the horizon, unaware and uncaring that it dared disturb their time and impede on their night. The redhead had sort of forgotten she was supposed to be gathering intelligence. It was something that had been happening more often when she got around the bodyguard. Something about their talks always made her forget she had a job she was supposed to be doing, even though every now and then they did discuss about the bodyguard’s “friends.”

When the sun started to make its presence known not like a rowdy bar patron, Shego sighed. “Time to go back to your gilded cage,” she pointed out. 

Kim looked off at the rising sun. “I suppose so.”

“You could run away.”

“No, I don’t think I could.”

Shego gave her an odd look, knowing there was something more to those words than how they sounded. She did not request clarification, though. Instead, she sneaked Kim back into her “gilded cage.” Shego figured she had done all she could and so, she returned to her home after she dropped Kim off. 

-8-8-8-8-

“So, did you learn anything?” Yori asked Kim as the redhead slid their room door shut. She did not even give her partner a chance to be totally in the room before making such inquiries.

“Huh?” Kim inquired in a puzzled tone as she turned to face Yori. 

“Did you learn anything while you were out all night?” the ninja clarified her question. 

“Nothing much. Yojimbo-san doesn’t seem to have much faith in the conspirators. I mean, I think they’re really going to go through with it and everything, but he doesn’t seem to think they’ll succeed, even though he’s going with it,” Kim answered as she set herself up against the wall. 

“He seems to really like you, huh?” Yori pointed out what she felt was the eight hundred pound bear in the room.

For some reason, the thought made Kim’s heart beat a little faster, but she ignored that. “Yeah, but he still won’t talk to me about this thing in real detail. He seems to think it’s a big joke. He’s pretty closed off about most things, though.” 

Yori nodded. “That’s the smart thing to be. Did he think anything of how we almost killed him?”

Kim shook her head. “If he did, he didn’t bring it up. Maybe he didn’t think it was strange.”

“You like wishing out loud, huh?” Yori remarked and that got a chuckle out of Kim. Of course it had to come across as weird for two petite maiko to charge up and almost kill a bodyguard. But, like Kim said, he had not brought it up.

“Don’t try to taunt me just because I got to get out of here for a little while and you didn’t,” Kim retorted.

“Oh, that was just wrong,” the ninja groaned. She would like to get out of this place for a little while, too. She bet it was nice to just be able to stretch her legs without having to be in a formal kimono or wearing those clogs, like a bird out of its cage. Kim got to have all the fun, she silently lamented. “I think I’m jealous,” she confessed as if it was nothing.

“I know you are, that’s why I said it,” the samurai commented. She knew Yori would be just a little bothered by the fact she got to go outside. She knew it because she had been so happy to be outside. She had not realized she missed the world as much as she did, but she was grateful that she had gotten out there, even if it was only for half the night. 

“What was it like?” Yori whispered, eyes at their window.

Kim shook her head, not trusting herself to describe it. Besides, she did not want to make Yori feel bad. So, the room settled into silence. 

Yori probably would not have known what to do with her time out anyway. She would have been like a lost kite, moving in the direction that wind and gravity took her without any destination because she knew if she picked a target, she would have flown right to Ron. How she missed her wonderful, delightful, beautiful, slightly oafish husband. So, it was proper she had not been the one that was freed.

“I would not have come back,” Yori realized. Kim only offered her a smile. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego had thought it was strange that Kim and Yori had been sleeping up against a wall, extra-lightly sleeping at that, and had gotten the drop on her. They were just two musicians and she was a bodyguard, amongst other things. She should have seen them coming a mile away, but they had caught her. How was that possible?

 _Well, obviously, they’re not normal musicians_ , her brain pointed out. She did not think too much of it because they might just be rather paranoid maiko. Theirs was not an ideal job, after all.

She would just ask about the actions later on. Maybe, before Akako and her friend were geisha, they did something else with their lives. She shockingly enough did not suspect them of anything. Deep inside in an abyss she was unaware existed, she wanted to give Akako the benefit of the doubt and so she did. 

But, the next time Shego saw the redhead, she brought these things up. Kim had not been caught by surprise. She knew her actions along with Yori’s actions were going to be questioned. After all, they had done something pretty odd for delicate little geisha girls.

“So, how long have you been in the habit of sleeping against the wall?” Shego inquired while making herself comfortable in the empty room. Drakken and the Seniors were in a room down the hall. She had not even gone down with them. She just requested another room and summoned Akako. Junior had something disgusting to say about that, but she ignored him while muttering the word “idiot” under her breath. 

“I don’t know. Maybe for as long as I can remember,” Kim answered. At home, she rested in her futon, but in new places, she always propped herself up against the wall and slept very lightly. She usually had her katana in hand, too, but she kept her swords hidden for now. She did not want to chance Vivian seeing her weapons and then trying to take them away. They would then get into a fight and she did not want to know where that would go, but something told her she did not want to go there.

“Why?” the pale woman asked while motioning for her companion to pour her some sake.

Kim shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just overly cautious.” 

“You and your friend, huh?”

“Obviously,” Kim answered.

The bodyguard allowed the answers to swirl around the calm storm that was her mind. She figured the two maiko were paranoid and she wanted to accept that, so she did. There was some invisible line that connected her to the redhead and part of her knew the line would be severed sharply if she overanalyzed what happened. That part of her refused to let the line be snapped and so, it forced her to accept the explanation. 

“So, was she jealous you managed to get out of here, even if it was for the night?” Shego inquired.

Kim laughed a bit. “She was.” 

“She didn’t rat you out or anything, right?”

“No, she’d never do that.” 

“Is she the reason you didn’t want to leave?”

“Part of it,” Kim answered honestly. 

“She asked you about it, though?”

“Of course. She wanted to know what the outside was like. We used to be out there a lot and it’s hard to just be in here now,” the olive-eyed girl replied.

“Is it? Then let’s get out of here,” Shego suggested as if it was nothing.

“Huh?”

“Let’s get out of here. Don’t worry. I’ll bring you back. You grab your shamisen and I’ll grab the booze,” Shego remarked.

Squinting, Kim’s brow furrowed. “Won’t we get in trouble if they find out you’ve taken me?”

Shego snorted. “You shouldn’t worry about that, but if you want to stay here just because of the risk, I won’t make you leave.”

Shaking her head, Kim smiled. “No, let’s go.” 

Shego smirked. She liked the slender risk-taking maiko and she could admit that to herself at the very least. She grabbed her drink while Kim grabbed her hated shamisen. And then they were gone.

They went back to the spot Shego had taken her to last night. They sat down by the tree and looked down into the city, admiring what they could see from the sprinkle of lantern lights that illuminated the city like randomly shattered fireflies in the woods. The moon was out again, but once more hiding behind a cloud as if it was a naughty child in trouble. The stars were out in strong numbers as usual, like an army of white sparkles. 

They were silent for a while and Kim just started playing her shamisen. This made Shego smile, but it was hard to see because of her head being down and her hat covering her face. Still, Kim just seemed to know and played a light melody.

“So, Akako-chan, what did you used to do before you were taken to the geisha house?” Shego inquired.

Kim thought about what she would say. She did not have a cover story and she was not very skilled in the art of lying. She guessed she was going to have to settle with telling the truth, but just leaving bits out to avoid giving herself away. 

“I used to want to be a samurai,” Kim replied.

“Why? What’s so great about being a samurai?” the bodyguard asked, even though she was a warrior herself. She just wanted to know the appeal of it for the petite redhead. 

“Everything, except for, you know, the killing,” the teen admitted with a shrug.

“Kill or be killed. You shouldn’t walk onto a battlefield if you’re not prepared to die,” Shego commented. That was the first rule to fighting. 

“I know that. So, Yojimbo-san, what did you want to be before you became a bodyguard?” the redhead asked.

“I always just wanted to be free, on my own. That way I can be left alone if I feel like being alone or I can just do whatever I want. All I ever wanted was control over my life since it’s my life.”

Kim nodded. She understood, which was typical when it came to them discussing points of life. “I can see your point,” the teen stated.

“That’s why you should run away.”

“I guess we’re not all as brave as you,” Kim remarked, more teasing than serious. She did think the bodyguard was brave, though. It took a lot to go after his own freedom and take control of his own life.

“You should be. You’re a daring little thing.” 

Kim smiled and blushed, but since she had on her maiko makeup, it was hard to see. She was a little happy for that. She could not recall the last time a compliment from a man got a blush out of her. 

Shego glanced at the maiko and noticed the small smile. Shego smiled, too, but she made sure her head was down and it was near impossible to tell. She did not want Akako to get the wrong idea.

Kim continued to play the shamisen while they sat there silently. She inched closer to the bodyguard. She was not sure, but she felt this need to be closer. 

Shego noticed, but she did not mind. In fact, she moved closer to the maiko, too. They ended up touching, leaning against each other, feeling the other’s firm presence. It was settling, for both of them.

“You know, I like coming up here to be alone,” the moss-hued guard said out of the blue. 

“Yet you brought me up here,” Kim commented.

“Well, having you here is almost like being alone considering the fact that you don’t have anything smart to say,” Shego teased.

“Akuma-san,” the redhead said. 

Shego only smirked while Kim realized the private bodyguard had shared something very deep and private with her. They were in the guard’s personal space. Kim had never been let in someone’s world like that. It was flattering, almost humbling because she was not even sure what to say or how to feel. It made something slowly swirl inside of her.

Kim was drawn out of her musing by the bodyguard. “The stars are so bright here and they’re always so calm. They move at their own paces and remain with those close to them in their spots,” Shego said. “It’s like they’re content in the blanket they were wrapped in.”

“You fancy the sky a gilded cage?” Kim asked.

“No. I think the stars do as they want. They’re where they want to be, making them the more fortunate souls of this place,” Shego replied.

Kim turned her attention to the sky and listened to the bodyguard going on, considering the stars were almost enviable because they seemed so at peace. The moon decided to peer out from behind the cloud and join the other heavenly bodies, making for a breathtaking sight. Kim decided to jump in the conversation at that moment and Shego did not mind.

“The moon moves at it’s own pace as well, coming and going as it pleases. Perhaps it’s even more fortunate than the stars, getting to be with all of them instead of just those nearby,” the redhead commented.

The bodyguard smiled unconsciously. She had never had the chance to be around someone who would appreciate the sky with her and from her special place, too. It should have seemed odd if anything at all, but it was just soothing, like being gently caressed with words and an aura. 

-8-8-8-8-

Vivian was in a panic. Bonnie and her girls were done with their party and the party was looking to leave, so they wanted their bodyguard, too. The problem in that was that the bodyguard was gone. Along with the bodyguard, Akako was gone. Betty was going to kill her! Vivian could not believe she had lost a whole girl. It was a first. 

The blond woman searched the entire building for the redheaded samurai, but was unable to locate her. She could not believe the trouble she would be, especially since it was very likely that the silent bodyguard had stolen the samurai. If something happened to that girl, it was all over, Vivian thought. Betty would never speak to her again and that would be if she was lucky. All in and all, Betty would likely murder her in some unspeakable manner and possibly mutilate her helpless corpse. It was a motivating thought.

“Ayame,” Vivian said while going up to Yori’s room.

The ninja was doing some exercises, but stopped as soon as the blond entered. Yori thought she might be in trouble. She was not sure why. She was pretty certain she had not done anything that warranted a scolding, but sometimes the smallest things seemed to bring about reprimands. But, all she had done was sat back and played her flute like always during the banquet, so she could not figure out what tiny action she might have taken to be awarded a visit by the blue-eyed woman. 

“Do you know where Akako is?” Vivian begged to know from the young spy.

“What do you mean? She was in a room with Yojimbo-san,” Yori replied. 

“No, she’s not there anymore. I checked. She wasn’t there,” Vivian said in a frantic tone.

“Oh,” Yori said, obviously unaffected by the news. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll bring her back.” 

“What do you mean? How do you know?” Vivian practically demanded with wide eyes. She noted the teen’s indifferent demeanor and knew the girl knew something she was not sharing.

“I just do. He’ll bring her back. She seems to think he’s an all right person, so he’ll bring her back,” Yori tried to assure the panicked woman.

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Yori replied. Kim seemed to get a good vibe from the bodyguard and even if she did not know it, she seemed to trust him, so he would more than likely bring her back. Unless he totally flipped and decided to kidnap the redhead, she thought, which would be bad for him, unless Kim wanted to go with him. No one took Kim some place by force, after all.

Vivian was only slightly relieved. She would not feel at ease until that samurai was back where she was supposed to be and assured that nothing horrible happened to her. She could see why Betty was always so stressed if she had to deal with Kim and Yori on a daily basis. It was a miracle Betty had not yanked out her good eye if she had to put up with the girls often, in Vivian’s opinion.

When Kim did return, it was fairly late. Vivian wanted to strangle the girl when she saw her, but she did not take such drastic actions. She cracked Kim in the head with her fan, though. Kim saw it coming, but she did not dodge. She yelped as the force of the hit sent her crashing to the floor. The blond woman was much stronger than she looked, Kim quietly noted as she hit the wood. 

“Where the hell have you been?” Vivian demanded to know.

“Ow,” Kim muttered in the floorboards.

“No, no, no, don’t try to act like that hurt. As hard as your head has to be, I could probably hit you with a tree and it not have any affect on you. Now, where have you been?” Vivian repeated. 

“I was with Yojimbo-san,” Kim answered as she sat up. She rubbed a red spot in the center of her forehead.

Vivian narrowed her gaze on the redhead.  “Did he do anything to you?”

“No, we just talked, like always. He’s not that kind of person,” Kim replied.

“You can’t just go around trusting people just because they haven’t done anything to you yet,” Vivian argued.

Olive eyes blinked hard. “I know.” Did Vivian think that she was some stupid kid? She was a seasoned warrior and she knew what she was doing. She could read people to a certain extend and the bodyguard did not seem threatening, directly to her anyway.

“Are you falling for this bodyguard?” Vivian demanded to know. 

“No!” Kim vehemently denied that charge. Again, she was not some stupid kid.

“Good to know. Now, don’t just go leaving here with him anymore. It’s dangerous,” the older female pointed out.

Kim agreed to appease the furious woman and hopefully avoid having fire breathed on her from the way the blond was huffing. Vivian whacked her with the fan again, just for good measure and then left with the thought of finding someway to relax after such a stressful night. Kim rubbed her head and then turned her attention to Yori, who was looking at the redhead curiously.

“I’m not falling for the bodyguard,” Kim insisted.

“I didn’t say anything,” Yori replied in her own defense.

“You’re thinking it.”

“Okay, maybe I am thinking it a little. You have vanished with him twice now.”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Kim argued.

“So, did you get anything?” the ninja asked as she went back to her exercising.

“Well, I think they’re going to be making their move soon. Yojimbo-san said it might be a while before I saw him again when he brought me back. I asked why and he just said he was going to do something boring followed by something fun and stupid.”

“Sounds about right. Drakken-san and Senior-sama talked about moving some things to his manor. I’m guessing because it’s closer to the palace.” 

Kim sat there and thought about it. “We should get someone to watch the house and wait for them to move things in, make sure they’re weapons and everything. If they’re moving weapons, it would confirm they’re looking to arm Senior-sama’s men and move on the palace. We’re going to be out of here soon.”

“Yes!” Yori cheered. She would back with her husband soon and never have to touch a wooden clog again. Dreams did come true.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Plans go into motion, many plans.

-8-8-8-8-

1: Akuma: devilish person; devil; Satan.


	7. To Dream a Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

7: To Dream a Dream

Kim and Yori filled Betty in on what they believed Drakken and the Seniors were up to. They suggested she put some spies around the Seniors’ manor to watch the activity around the place. 

“Good idea,” Betty agreed, sitting across from them in a small room. It would be best to capture the plotters right before they were about to start out because it would give her a chance to take whatever weapons they had gathered without missing any. She had to be careful with setting this up because if she went in too late, her forces would be in grave danger and she could not afford losing more agents. Too early and she could lose evidence of the scheme.

“Are we going to be involved with the raid?” Yori asked with hope in her eyes. Things like that were more her speed and she would like to be a part of something that she was familiar with after such a tiresome assignment.

“No,” Betty answered. 

The girls’ expressions simultaneously dropped like the temperature in the winter. They were not going to be allowed into the sweetest part of the mission? But, they wanted to fight! They were warriors for crying out loud. In fact, one of the things keeping them going while they were on the undercover assignment was that soon they would get to do something they were accustomed to and yet they were to be denied. Injustice!

“You two will stay here until the Seniors and Drakken are arrested,” Betty informed them.

Now, they looked absolutely aghast. She might as well have told them that they were going to be shot in the face at sunrise. They were going to be stuck in the teahouse until the very end of the mission? That was not fair! Did she have any idea what kind of Hell it was for them to be there? To have to pretend to be something they were not? And for Yori to try to walk in those okobo? How cruel! Perhaps Betty was an akuma, they considered.

“Why?” Kim managed to ask once she found her voice, which seemed to have abandoned her for a few seconds because of that news.

“Just in case. You can never be too careful. Once everything is in order, I’ll come get you two,” Betty assured them.

Yori and Kim were ready to beg to just get out of the house. It had been too long and they wanted to go outside. They wanted to walk down a street. Kim would not even care if everyone she passed called her a fox spirit as loud as possible if she could just stroll the area with her swords at her side and a pair of zori on her feet. Yori would take any stares from anyone if she could just be with her husband again and in no footwear at all. They did not even want to get started on being able to get out of the heavy, formal kimonos that they had to wear all of the time.

They glanced at each other and were willing to bet they had the same bad idea. They considered attacking Betty and then making a run for it. It was a bad idea for a couple of reasons, though. They were more than aware it would be committing a horrible suicide to attack a madwoman like Betty and even if they had the incredible luck and fortune to escape, she knew where they lived. So, they both shook their heads to inform the other it was a stupid notion that they could not go through with.

“Chin up, ladies. If they’re moving soon like you say, you’ll be home in a little while, doing whatever it is you do,” Betty commented. It scared her to consider what they probably did do when they were home because they were such strange people. Kim may have likely slept on her plum flower poles.

“Easy for you to say,” they grumbled like angry children. Kim folded her arms across her chest while Yori clutched her kimono at the knees.

“What? Vivian’s taking good care of you, right?” the one-eyed woman asked. She was sure the blond took the best of care of the girls, even if she was probably hard on them.

“She likes hitting us with her fan,” they reported in a mumble. It was rather shameful in their opinions. They were fierce and noble warriors getting smacked around by a geisha mother with a fan. Worse than that, they feared they would have permanent red marks on their foreheads thanks to it.

Betty laughed a bit. “She’s a perfectionist when it comes to what she does and she’s good at what she does. You two seem to be sitting straighter than usual,” she commented, obviously teasing them.

Kim and Yori decided they were offended by that, even though they were actually sitting straighter than ever before. But, she made light of their suffering, after all. They were really hurting. They were stuck some place pretending to be people that they were not, almost the opposites of what they were and they had been doing it for over two months. Pulling their eyes out would have been more humane, they considered.

“Hang in there, you two. You’re doing an excellent job,” Betty assured them, as if those words would make the ache go away.

“Thanks,” they muttered with deep frowns.

Betty decided to not address their rudeness toward her. She knew things were hard for them since they were totally out of their element. Hell, a fish on land probably would have been more comfortable than they were, but they were doing a good job. They had identified the two main men in the plot, namely Drakken and the elder Senior. They had also mentioned Junior and Yojimbo-san, but they had not said much on them because they were not major players in what was going on.

The teen duo had come to understand what the plot was for the most part, even though the men never came right out and said the plan. They had even come upon information to let Betty know she would be able to catch the two men in the act before they had a chance to mobilize and cause any grief. It was a good job, especially considering this was their first time doing something like this.

“Hang in there,” Betty repeated and then she went to go set up for the new operation, leaving behind two upset young warriors.

-8-8-8-8-

“I’m never volunteering for something without hearing what it is again,” Kim stated with a sigh as she lowered her head in exhaustion. The girls were in their room in their current “prison” and it was rather late at night since that was the safest time for Betty to get word from them. 

“I feel like this should repay any and every debt I have to anyone that’s ever lived,” Yori remarked, shaking her head in defeat slightly.

“Just makes you wish you could find out if the Shogun is grateful, huh?” Kim asked as she crawled over to her bed. She sat on the futon while Yori remained situated on the floor. 

“I wouldn’t go that far. I’d just like to know that Director-sama is grateful. Well, that and maybe the fact that she’ll never ask me to do something like this ever again. I mean, I don’t belong to her anymore,” Yori replied.

“Obviously, she forgets that a lot.” 

Yori nodded in agreement. She actually used to belong to Betty. She had been sold to the one-eyed woman after her being taken in a battle from her former clan of ninja when she was twelve. Betty was always in need of personnel and when she found out that Yori was a kunoichi that was it for her. Yori was probably the wisest purchase she had ever made. She was not cruel to the girl in any way. In fact, she allowed Yori to live with her and let the girl order around her servants, if that was Yori’s wish anyway. 

It was through Betty that Yori met her husband and her good friend, Kim. They had all gone on a mission together and Yori had assumed there was something between Kim and Ron as the mission proceeded. It was just that the pair were so in sync with each other and she was fairly impressed with them, even though she realized they were weird almost a minute after meeting them.

Yori quietly fell for Ron; well, it was quietly to them anyway since they were the last two to notice it. Betty had no problem with letting Yori go and marry Ron. She never looked at Yori as a servant, even though the girl served her loyally and faithfully. Yori felt it was her duty to serve Betty as best she could because of the kind way the woman treated her. And that sense was only heightened when Betty allowed her to leave without any strings attached to be with Ron. That was why Yori had taken the job she was currently stuck with. It was the reason she took any job from Betty.

“Maybe she’ll give us a break after this,” Kim said, lying on her back and staring at the ceiling.

“Again you wish out loud, Kim-chan,” Yori remarked.

The redhead laughed. “Something has to keep me going. If not the optimism, then what?”

“I wish I knew,” Yori replied.

“Well, at least this is almost over.”

“I can’t wait to get back to Ron-kun. Are you going to go see Du-sama when we leave?” the ninja asked.

Kim almost laughed out loud. The question was just as good as any joke she ever heard. As if she would leave one stressful situation to go put herself in another one? Will was far from her mind almost all of the time. She never missed him in any sense of the word. She never wondered about what he was doing or where he was. She knew more about him than she wanted to as it was, so there was no way that she wondered about anything.

“You still dislike Du-sama, huh?” Yori guessed.

“There’s nothing to like about him and his big head,” she replied.

It was no secret to anyone who knew Kim and Will that they did not get along. Most people tried to say the pair had a grudging respect for each other and really did care about each other. Kim and Will wondered what the hell those people used when thinking because it obviously was not their minds. 

“What are you two going to do when you get married?” Yori asked.

The ninja hated to think about Kim and Will on their wedding night. She was fairly sure the sight would not be pretty. Kim might actually draw her katana on him if he tried to touch her. Of course, it would not be the first time they pulled weapons on each other and probably would not be the last time. Yori was with Betty and others with the idea that the marriage was probably going to end with one of them killing the other about a week into the union.

“With luck, that day won’t ever come,” Kim replied. At least, deep in her heart, she hoped she would never actually have to be married to Will.

Kim was all too aware their families were waiting for her and Will to get along just a little better, but that was never going to happen from what she could tell. He was never going to respect her or her abilities, so he was always going to be an annoying bighead to her. She did not want to marry him for any reason, even if it would unite two mighty clans. If the clans wanted to be together so badly, she had cousins who could be married off. It was not even like her branch of the Possible family was the main branch of the clan.

“Maybe you could meet someone, like I met Ron,” Yori commented. Maybe Yojimbo-san for Kim was like Ron was for her, not that she would say that aloud. 

“Thanks for the luck and all, but my grandmother arranged this wedding plan, so there’s no way it’ll be broken. So, if I did meet that person, nothing could come of it,” the redhead replied. Her grandmother had made a deal and the family was going to abide by it because they always did what her grandmother said. It was a bit of a miserable existence, but nothing compared to the existence that would follow if one did not obey. Surely, that was the worse fate possible, everyone in the family silently agreed on that.

“What about Yojimbo-san?” Yori offered up. It could not hurt to plant the idea and maybe Kim could be happy with the bodyguard. 

“What about him?”

“You seem kind of attached to him,” Yori stated.

“I’m not,” Kim insisted. “Besides, when Director-sama puts everything in motion, Yojimbo-san will be arrested and probably crucified,” she added. So, as far as wheels of destiny were concerned, the bodyguard was actually a walking dead man and it would be foolish to be involved with someone who was more or less a corpse with a pulse that would soon fade.

Yori nodded to that. She guessed it would be foolish for Kim to fall for the enemy, especially the enemy who was going to die soon more than likely. Still, Yori thought there was something between her spy partner and the bodyguard. If not an attraction, then a friendship, which she thought was good for Kim.

Kim needed friends who understood her and Yori was willing to bet the bodyguard did, which was why the samurai seemed comfortable with leaving with him and being alone with him. Kim did not have many friends who understood her, or even attempted to know what made her tick. Most of the people she knew talked about her rather poorly once she left the room, even if her true friends were still there. Out of all of the good things that Kim did, people still did not accept her because of how strange she was and there was the very real fact that she might be a fox spirit or the offspring of a fox spirit. Yori did not understand it much herself, considering the fact that had Kim been a part of her ninja clan, she knew for a fact the redhead would have been celebrated for her constant and consistent heroics.

Kim thought about Yojimbo-san as she lay in her bed. He was going to be arrested and probably killed for scheming against the government. It made something inside of her sink and her stomach lurched, as if she was going to be ill. Even though the bodyguard seemed to accept that might happen, it was starting to bother her and upset her inner workings.

She liked sitting and talking with the bodyguard and she considered she might miss that if he was gone. At least if he lived, there was a chance of them meeting again after she left this job, but if he was dead, there was no chance of that in her current lifetime anyway. She wondered if there was some way to at least keep the bodyguard alive, but she could not think of any way for that to happen, which only made that sinking feeling go deeper.

It was almost a guarantee that anyone caught plotting against the Shogun would be executed. Yojimbo-san would be caught if he was seen with Drakken and the elder Senior, since they were considered the main conspirators and the ones who Betty was most focused on. That thought depressed Kim the more that she thought about it, making her stomach turn.

 _Okay, maybe I like Yojimbo-san a little bit_ , she conceded mentally. But, she was not attracted to him, as Yori seemed to think. She just liked his company a little bit and she did not think he deserved to die for some crazy scheme cooked up by people he did not even like. He just wanted to be free and she could understand that. He just seemed to pick a bad way to go about it.

Maybe, if given the chance, the bodyguard might change. But, there was no way to know that if he was killed. She wanted him to get a chance to change, but to remain free. What to do? What to do? 

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego finished up packing way the weapons Drakken created. She could not believe how many boxes the weapons took up. She had been planning to just leave him to pack them all away, but she did not have anything better to do with her time. Well, at the time she did not have anything better to do, but she knew what she was going to do now that it was all over. 

“Shego, you can guard the first shipment,” Drakken ordered her.

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Shego said as if she was hesitant to inform him that she had other plans. “No,” she replied plainly.

“What?” the cerulean inventor inquired because he was not sure if he heard right. He turned to her with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.

“I said no. I helped you pack this crap away. You should be thankful for that. I’m going out for a drink now,” Shego told him.

“What do you mean? We have to get this stuff to Senior’s house tonight while it’s dark,” he pointed out. She could not expect him to do it all himself, could she?

Snorting, she waved him off. “That’s your problem. I do a lot of things, but I don’t think moving crates in is on that list.”

“What? You’re my servant—” he started, but he did not get to finish that sentence.

“What?” Shego snarled and she grabbed the loose-lipped inventor by his collar. She held up a hand, which had claw-like nails on it. “Did you just call me your servant?” she demanded to know.

He yelped. “I didn’t mean it,” he quickly amended his statement.

“Let’s get this straight, Drakken- _kun_ ,” she frowned and held him tighter. “I’m here because I want to be. I do things for you, like let you breathe, out of the kindness of my heart and because you can afford to pay me a decent wage. So don’t think that just because I’m with you on this nutty scheme that you can order me around or that I do grunt work. Got it?” she snarled.

“I got it,” he gulped.

“Good, now I’m going to have a drink. When the fighting and everything starts, send word and I’ll show up. You understand that one?” she growled.

Drakken nodded and she tossed him aside. She grabbed her hat and mask and left the lair. _The nerve of that reckless bastard_ , she silently huffed. How dare that bastard call _her_ his servant! If only he knew how many different ways she could kill him, he would probably learn to watch his mouth. She was only with him because she wanted to be there.

While Drakken annoyed her more often then not, she liked being around him and listening to his delusions of grandeur. It was amusing to watch him think he was so great and he would make sure a fantastic ruler and everything. He seemed like such a raving lunatic to her most of the time and it made her laugh on the inside because he thought so highly of himself. Sometimes, she felt like she had to protect him from himself. Secretly, she did not think he would ever succeed, but with his current plan, she was not too sure.

When Drakken was on his own, she knew he would never be able to make it anywhere. He did not have many men backing him, not enough to go against the Shogun anyway. But, with his men combined with Senior’s men, there was a chance they would be able to do something. Plus, there were his great weapons that might possibly give them an edge to unleash agony unto the Shogun.

So, maybe they would win, but she was not even thinking that far ahead. She was not going to hold her breath if they made it that far, though. She just thought of the fight that would happen when everything was going to crack wide open. Victory was moot to her because idiots would only be taking power from another idiot as far as she was concerned. Still, she was leaning more to the fact that they would have to retreat when all the smoke cleared more than likely. The fighting would be fun, though.

It was nice to see Drakken get his hopes up, too. Sure, she did not like him very much, but then again, she did not dislike him either. She just got a kick out of watching him work, which was probably why she stuck around him. He was better than anything that could happen in the theater. So, in a small way, he was more like her servant. He did not even know it, which was something else she thought was funny.

Drakken was so self-important and high and mighty in his own mind that he had no idea she looked at him more as a clown than a conqueror. She bet he was so blinded by his own thoughts of grandeur that he did not know what he would do with his half of the country if they managed to succeed beyond naming it after himself. She did not even see why he would want to rule the country outside of the fact that he wanted someone somewhere to recognize his genius.

“But, why am I trying to make sense of him? I haven’t been able to figure him out since we met,” she muttered as she moved through the dark streets.

Pressing on, though, she wondered what the country would be like if Drakken were the shogun. That was easy to figure out, though. There would more than likely be a massive, rapid rebellion a couple of days into his reign. He would more than likely quell them with violence, as others had done in the past. So, there would probably just be a bloodbath when he took over with the rivers running red and the fields being fed by cadavers. He would be left to rule over ruins and any cowards left alive that wished to hang onto their pathetic existences. Yeah, that seemed right about his speed.

It did not stop there in her mind, though. She figured the people left alive and too frightened to do anything, they would live in misery. Drakken would only want to indulge himself like a spoiled child with new toys and he would weaken the state more than likely. Maybe, if push came to shove, she would join up with some people and overthrow Drakken. That would be if he managed to stop being amusing to her. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim strolled into a room where Yojimbo-san waited for her. Kim was happy to see the bodyguard. It was a relief to see that Yojimbo-san had not been arrested and was still alive. She nearly sighed at the sight; a light feeling did course through her being like a nourishing stream for a moment, though.

“Good evening, Yojimbo-san,” Kim greeted the bodyguard and bowed slightly.

“Hey, Akako-chan,” Shego replied.

“Are we to take another nighttime escape?” the redhead asked with a coy smile. Every now and then, Yojimbo-san indulged her and took her outside to stretch her house-stiffened limbs. She enjoyed the outings every single time and inquired about them whenever the mysterious bodyguard showed up, which was almost every night now. It would seem the bodyguard had money to burn and poured it into seeing her. She did not mind.

“I don’t think I have the time for that right now. I might have to do something tonight,” Shego answered. She was not sure when Drakken and Senior were planning to make their moves, but they might do it once all of the weapons were stockpiled at Senior’s home. So, there was a chance that she would probably have to leave earlier than she tended to.

Kim pouted slightly, which Shego noticed, but the teenager did not seem to know she wore such a pathetic look. Shego found herself reacting strangely to the expression. She felt regret that she might have to leave earlier than usual.

“What do you think you might have to do?” Kim asked.

“Something stupid and fun. Don’t worry about it. When it’s all over and done, I’ll come back and get you out of this gilded cage. We can sit up every night and watch the stars,” Shego replied. It was somewhat of a promise and she was sincere about it, which the musician could tell just from the sound of the bodyguard’s voice.

Kim felt something weird go through her body. Was it hope and remorse at the same time? She hoped she could sit with the bodyguard and watch the stars again, but she also felt some remorse over what the bodyguard would go through if he was caught up in the plot to overthrow the government. She now knew she just could not let that happen. She could not let him get caught or she would regret it for the rest of her life.

“Yojimbo-san, can I pour you a drink?” Kim asked.

“Um… sure,” Shego answered.

Kim went to do as she offered. Shego was a little suspicious about the eagerness of the little maiko. She decided against commenting on it since the point of her coming out was for her get a drink and to see her Akako-chan. It was a win/win situation if the girl was offering to do things instead of having something smart to say.

“What about food? Would you like something to eat, too?” Kim asked.

“Sure,” Shego agreed. She was a little hungry. If she had to do anything tonight, it would be a good idea for her to have something in her stomach.

“Okay, I’ll go get some.”

Shego arched an eyebrow. Okay, it was official; Akako had been taken over by a demon. It was the only way to explain why the redhead was acting this way. She would have to ask about the odd behavior the petite maiko was exhibiting. But, she did not really get around to it. The food came quickly and she started eating.

Kim watched the bodyguard eat while picking up her shamisen. She began playing a soft melody, but stopped every so often to make sure there was drink in the bodyguard’s cup or to get more food. She also made sure to offer up conversation by asking about things she figured out interested the bodyguard, like the stars, or the shamisen, or weapons, and just about everything else she could come up with. It was going pretty well. Yojimbo-san relaxed and eventually the bodyguard fell asleep. Kim smiled. 

-8-8-8-8-

Betty gave the signal for her troops to move in. They had surrounded the Seniors’ manor and they were watching men bring in a lot of crates. They were going to find out what was in those crates before arresting everyone in the place. After all, if it turned out to be something other than weapons, then they missed their chance to find out what the secret weapons were.

Betty pried open one of the crates as she slipped into a storage room. She picked up one of the pieces of cargo. It looked like a rifle as far as she could tell, but it had been modified greatly. She picked up another one to see the same thing. Apparently, not only were they serious about taking over the government, but they also were well prepared for it.

“Good thing we caught this before it got out of hand,” the one-eyed woman muttered to herself.

Betty let her people know it was time to take prisoners and they needed to do it quietly and quickly. She did not want to give anyone a chance to use the weapons. So, her people tried to take everyone on the manor quietly, but with so many people to capture, it was virtually impossible to take everyone fast enough to where others were not alerted.

Fighting broke out within minutes of the operation commencing as the guards and soldiers around the manor realized there was an attack. As orders went out for them to protect their lord, Betty went after the elder Senior. She trusted Will to go after the younger Senior, especially since Will knew what the young man looked like. There were already orders left by Betty for all of her agents to be on the lookout for a blue fellow.

The blue fellow tried to make his getaway when he noticed all of the commotion going on. He crept to a secret door, thinking he was about to make it out of the chaos. And then he opened the door. 

“I don’t think you want to go this way,” government agent, Barkin Steve, commented. He was standing inside the secret passage, cracking his knuckles.

“Not the face!” Drakken pled when he realized he was about to get hit.

Barkin shrugged and punched Drakken in the stomach. The inventor coughed in pain, muttered the name of his bodyguard. He wondered where she was right before he passed out, which Barkin expected. He tied Drakken up and decided to wait to see if anyone else would come his way for him to beat up. He could use the action and it turned out that he picked a good place to wait up.

Junior came running to the same secret passage while guards held up Will. Barkin did not even know who Junior was, but he knew he was expected to stop anyone not working under Director-san. Junior was not an agent, therefore had to be stopped. He ran right into Barkin’s fists while trying to get out of the house.

Junior did not fall from one hit like Drakken did. Amazingly enough, Junior’s thick muscles were beyond show. He pulled out a tanto to fight against Barkin, who was caught by surprise with the concealed weapon. Junior was about to go on the offensive, but he suddenly dropped to the floor.

Behind Junior stood Will, looking as stoic as ever. When Junior hit the floor, there was a needle shuriken in his shoulder. Will had hit the large young man with the needle. Barkin looked down at the collapsed male.

“Did you…?” Barkin asked. He was curious about Junior’s status and if that shuriken was laced with deadly poison. 

“He’s only unconscious. She wants him alive. What about the blue one?” Will inquired.

“Yeah, he’s alive, too,” Barkin replied.

Will nodded. They had kept alive two main people that Director-san sent them after. She had done the same with the elder Senior, but his capture did not mean his men would stand down. In the midst of all of the battling, some lanterns were knocked over and the house began to burn. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Shego woke up to find her head being cradled in Kim’s lap, which was almost unsettling in comfort. Her hat was over her head, but she was not sure if that meant the maiko had not looked at her face completely. She sat up and looked at the redhead, who was humming to herself while looking off to the side.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Kim commented as the bodyguard rose off of her.

“Yeah,” Shego replied while fixing her hat and looking around for her mask. “Did you look, Akako-chan?” she inquired. 

Kim’s forehead wrinkled as her eyebrows drew in close. “Look?”

“You were so curious before, so did you take your chance to look at my face?” the bodyguard clarified.

Giving the bodyguard a small smile, Kim shook her head. “No,” she answered honestly. “I hope that one day you’ll trust me enough to show me someday.” 

“Someday. But, I have to leave tonight. I’ll come see you again soon and take you outside again,” Shego promised.

Kim only nodded, wishing she could actually do more, such as hug him at the least. Tonight might actually be the last time they saw each other, if everything went down as it was supposed to. With luck, she had saved the bodyguard from a horrible fate, though. 

Shego quickly exited the teahouse and was about to return to the lair since Drakken had not sent word for her. When she hit the outside though, she noted all of the commotion. Apparently, there was a huge fire in the city, so she went to go check that out. She was surprised when she got closer to the inferno and she saw what was burning — the Seniors’ home. She was could not believe her eyes.

“This isn’t good,” Shego muttered. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Shego to the rescue.


	8. Sparks Fly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

8: Sparks Fly 

Shego watched from a rooftop in disbelief as the Seniors’ mansion burned so brightly that it almost made the night seem like day. She could tell there was a sting operation going on in the house, too, because she could see Senior’s men being rushed out of the place, tied up or bound in some other way by other people dressed in dark colors. Some of the crates were even being pulled out of the place, for evidence perhaps. Well, if those were the Shogun’s police anyway.

“Things are pretty fucked up,” Shego muttered to the hot air. She hated to think what would happen if those were not the Shogun’s men. Things would be even worse.

She decided to observe rather than charge in and doing something stupid. After all, she was only one person and there were plenty of enemies from what she could tell. If they were enemies, anyway. She would need to be sure to plan her next move.

And then she took notice of the Shogun’s lapdog, also known as Director Betty. Most people did not know the one-eyed woman from any other person on the street, but a special breed would be able to know her from the distance where Shego was.

“Enemies it is. Definitely a raid,” Shego decided.

Shego knew who Director Betty was and what she did. She had expected to see the brown-haired woman thanks to this half-baked scheme cooking in the minds of Drakken and the elder Senior. She even considered they might engage each other in combat to see how far they had come, but not tonight.

“Everything’s freaking screwed up now. Damn, I really wanted to kick her ass one last time,” Shego frowned, watching the flames grow higher as more people poured out of the manor.

To think, she would be in that mess if she had not fallen asleep thanks to all that food and wine. She was not sure what the outcome would have been if she was stuck in all that chaos, but she doubted her presence would have stopped the fire, so the place would have burned easily no matter what. She would have either been caught or had escaped with nothing really to show for her effort. _How anticlimactic_ , she thought.

“That was probably the best plan poor Drakken will ever be a part of,” she said, feeling just a little bad for him to have it blow up in his face so soon.

They had a rather decent plan. It might have been possible for them to pull off the coup or at least go out in a blaze of glory. Instead, the house was going up in a blaze and most of their men were being arrested or killed before they even got a chance to do anything. _Damn_ , the Shogun had some good dogs working for him for them to have caught everything before anything even happened, she considered.

“Unless, of course, the more obvious thing happened and these morons drew attention to themselves when they moved the stupid crates or something. Knowing these idiots, they walked the stupid crates right out into the street,” she figured.

The grunts were not smart enough to be discreet, especially if they thought it was a safe time or place or something of the like and they all swore that it was safe to move the boxes of weapons at night. So, either they screwed up or the Shogun’s dogs had sniffed out the plan and dug up their work.

“Not that any of that matters anyway,” she realized.

Whatever the cause of what was happening was done and gone. Now, there was only what was occurring and what she was going to do to change fate. She scoped things out and decided she would stick close to see if she had a chance to make things worse for the Shogun and make things better for her clowns… uh, Drakken and the Seniors. She was supposed to protect Drakken, anyway. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Clear the area!” Betty ordered everyone still inside of the burning mansion.

The smoke built up like a wall, but the true walls were collapsing. Her agents were upset with the orders, knowing they had to save the plotters as well as their own skins; their boss would not have it any other way. A few dedicated agents managed to pull out a few containers full of weapons. The weapons might be useful in some manner.

“Move out!” Betty commented her people. “Go quickly and quietly!” There were people arriving to put out the fire and they did have the whole “secret police” thing to maintain.

Everyone grabbed what they could, be it a prisoner or two or evidence of the planned uprising, but they all took something. They made themselves scarce, leaving the manor to go up in flames unless other people acted on its behalf. It did not matter to Betty.

Shego followed the disappearing agents, even though most people had not even noticed them. They were like shadows in the dark, vanishing into the ether. The masses were focused on the fact that there was a house burning in the noble district of the city. There were efforts to put the fire out, of course. If they just allowed the fire to burn, it could spread and the whole city could possibly collapse to the destructive force. So, people hurried to defeat the flames. It all acted as a distraction for Betty and her troops to get out of there without being seen.

Betty and her agents retreated back to the Shogun’s castle, which was where Shego knew they would go. She did not attempt to follow them into the castle; that would have been pure madness to try with them and the usual guards around the place. She needed to figure out what she was going to do about everything, who she would rescue, and how she would do it. So, she sat in a tree, pondering the matter close by and out of sight.

The prisoners were locked away in a low level dungeon immediately when Betty’s team entered the castle. The entire Senior household that survived the fire along with any henchmen gathered together by the elder Senior and Drakken that were still alive were put away in the cellar prison. The crates were put away in a storage room.

Betty went to go make a report. Beyond the fire, she felt this went smooth. It was a good night. She hoped the Shogun saw it that way.

Betty typically reported directly to the Shogun. He always wanted to hear things for himself from someone who was on the scene. He figured if he got a first hand account it would be best to understand the situation and it was also a way to avoid true hearsay where the truth of the predicament was lost through channels. He also knew that the one-eyed woman would not try to bury the circumstances under ass-kissing jargon. She would explain things as bluntly as possible, but with all due respect.

When Betty reported to the Shogun, she sat outside a room, with her feet tucked under her. He remained behind a shut shoji (sliding door). He sat far from the door, probably on the other side of the room, she guessed. There were guards all around, even though they were out of sight. Betty did not think too much on it because she was so used to it.

“Report,” he stated, almost curtly, but he was the Shogun, so it did not matter.

Betty was brief in what she said. She explained the plot as far as she understood it, which was that Drakken supplied the guns, which he had bragged about creating back when he thought it was safe to talk in front of the geisha. Senior offered up the finances for Drakken to buy what he needed to create the guns. They combined their men to have a small army, which they planned to use to storm the castle. The Shogun did not comment to that, not that she expected him to.

“There was a fire,” he said.

“It’s under control,” she assured him. As far as she knew, it was and it had been an asset. “The fire helped us clear out the area without anyone seeing. It also caused enough chaos amongst our enemies for us to defeat them in no time.”

He did not say anything to that, so she took it as a sign to continue her report. She informed him about the weapons and how they appeared to greatly modified guns. He did not say anything to that either. She waited for a moment, just to see if he would say anything, but there was silence.

Betty ended her report and left as quickly as she could, which was not extremely fast considering she had to bow with almost every move she made until she was completely out of the room that she was in. She then had to wait for her orders on what she should do next or wait around in case the Shogun finally decided to ask questions on everything that had happened. 

-8-8-8-8-

“How could this happen?” Señor Senior Senior lamented in disbelief.

He thought they had a flawless plan in its ingenious workings. They had been very quiet about everything, even when smuggling in the pieces for the guns, or, sometimes, whole guns themselves. Drakken had put the weapons together and modified them vastly in his own lair, which was outside of the city and, by their thinking, safe because of that. So, he really wondered, how could they have gotten arrested before even doing anything?

“Father, we’re going to get out here, right?” Junior asked with a slight tremble in his voice. He shared a small cell with his father and several other people. It was such a massive round up that the cells were all full.

“Of course, my son,” Senior assured his offspring. He was not too sure about that, though. He did not see how it was possible for them to get out once they were in the palace’s walls. They were swallowed by the Shogun and in the bowels of the beast now, not even the belly.

“I can’t believe they took all my guns,” Drakken complained with a deep huff, folding his arms across his chest. He was in a different cell, but the Seniors could hear him griping.

Drakken had worked long and hard on all of those guns, pouring his very essence into his labor, especially the ones that he had to put together completely on his own. Then there were the weapons he designed chiefly on his own. Those weapons were things of beauty in his mind, works of perfected art, and the government had confiscated them. The Shogun was probably going to have them destroyed, he realized, especially since the man did not know how they worked.

“The fool,” he grumbled about the Shogun.

The cerulean inventor’s expression dropped greatly as the thought of his hard work being melted down and wiped from the face of the Earth, as if they had never been created in the first place. Or worse, what if some hack started examining his precious pieces and began tearing those weapons apart? He actually wondered what they managed to save from the fire since he had been knocked out for the battle and failed to witness any of the inferno. He had heard about it from the other prisoners lamenting the loss of the brilliant manor.

Drakken was ignorant to what even started the fire. Junior was the same because they had both been unconscious in the fighting early on. Only a handful of people knew that a government agent knocked one of the guards into a lantern and the lantern started the wild fire that grew substantially as it was disregarded for other, more interactive opponents. Senior wondered if the whole house had burned down by now. So many treasures were lost to him and his son if the whole house was gone.

But, Senior supposed he had bigger things to worry about than family baubles. There was a big chance that he was going to die, as was his son. His son did not really have much to do with the plot and only came around because he enjoyed the particular teahouse they frequented and his father encouraged him to be involved a little. Junior needed to do something to prepare for when he was daimyo, after all. Not that he did. Senior doubted Junior’s noninvolvement in things was known, but he would wait and see.

Senior took into account that the Shogun was not a hard man like his father before him. The previous shogun was a man who felt anything that disturbed the calm of the land had to be dealt with in rash method to teach people that he would not tolerate any brand of foolishness. He almost always unleashed Hell on captured criminals. No one questioned the effectiveness of the manner as it was most improper to make inquires of the Shogun.

The current Shogun fashioned himself as a “just” man and tried to make punishments fit the crimes. But, he also understood that treasonous acts had to be dealt with. Treason could not be tolerated, after all.

It could not be said that Senior just accepted he would die for his actions. He was not ready for death in any form and he was attempting to think of some way out of his current predicament. He wanted to get his son out of the situation even more. He had to take care of his son, of course.

“It’s my duty to get Junior out of here,” Senior murmured to himself.

Drakken was also trying to figure out how to get out of his cell. He really had no desire to die. He had not even considered that might be an option when he began his planning. He always thought any plan he had would automatically succeed. So, he did not know what he was doing in the cell and he did not know how he was going to get out of it.

“Shego, I know you’re out here,” or so he hoped. He silently hoped and wished and prayed that Shego would manage to be his savior. It was what he paid her for, so she had better save him, he quietly huffed. 

-8-8-8-8-

Betty decided to go rescue her good, little spies since there was nothing else for her to do at the moment. They seemed to think they were in the lowest levels of Hell while undercover and she might as well get them out of there while she had the time. There was no reason for them to be there anymore, anyway.

The one-eyed woman took her time, however, since she could. When she made it to the house, she did not even go directly to the girls’ room. She decided to see Vivian and inform the blond that she was taking back her whiny spies. She knew Vivian would freak out if she woke up and the girls were just gone and she did not know what happened to them.

“Vivian-san,” Betty whispered as she sat down next to Vivian’s bed. She wanted to keep a little bit of professionalism between them using the honorific, even though they were the only two around.

The blond murmured in her sleep, but she did not stir. Betty sighed and put her hand on Vivian’s shoulder. For a moment, her fingers just traced a design on Vivian’s back and then she shook Vivian slightly, which worked. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she caught sight of who was waking her.

“Visiting in the middle of the night? How daring,” Vivian commented as she sat up to face the one-eyed woman. She continued to smile, looking somewhere between coy and seductive, which was probably only a feat that she could pull off.

“Stop looking like that. I’m just here to take back the two troublemakers,” Betty stated. 

“Is that all?” Vivian pouted, looking genuinely disappointed. Her eyes glistened just a bit.

“Of course.” Betty refused to let Vivian play with her and guilt her into anything. 

“You should stay for a moment. You work too much. Every time I see you, you’re working. Why don’t you sit and have some tea with me?” the blond offered with a pleasant smile.

“I don’t have the time for that,” Betty sighed. While she had spare time, it was not so vast for her to do something so leisurely as to sit and have tea with the blond.

“You always say that. What do you ever do aside from be a dog for the Shogun?” Vivian inquired with a huff. 

The brunette warrior flinched and then frowned. “Don’t be that way and don’t call me a dog for the Shogun.”

“Or else what? You’ll use that?” Vivian asked and she flicked Betty’s short sword, which was the only sword Betty carried at the moment. 

Betty sighed. “Can we not have this argument again? Not right now, especially,” the one-eyed woman practically begged.

Glaring, Vivian sat up straight and Betty knew she should be afraid. “And when would we have this argument? The next time you come by and want a favor from me yet have no time for me in the end?” the blond hissed.

Betty growled like an upset hound. _Of all the people there were in the empire and I just have to know all of the difficult or weird ones_ , she silently huffed. Why did everyone have to bother her over the fact that she had a job to do? Maybe they wanted someone to overthrow the government and destroy the peace that the land enjoyed. 

“Look, I have a job to do, an _important_ job,” Betty started out, but the blond did not let her finish.

“I know it’s an important job, but you’re going to burn yourself out. You’re all about the work. You don’t have anything outside of your job. I mean, the only family you see is your nephew and that’s only because he works with you. You don’t have any friends beyond me and you don’t go out to the theater if you have a chance because you never have a chance. You need to relax,” Vivian gently argued.

Vivian reached up and put her hands on Betty’s face. She looked the brunette directly in the eye. Betty tried to look away, but the hands did not leave her cheeks, so she eventually turned back. Vivian gave her a soft smile, which only made her want to pull away more, but she did not.

“You do need to relax. That’s why I always ask you to stay. I’m not looking to downplay your job or anything like that. I understand it’s a very important job and you help keep the peace and keep everything safe, but how long do you think you’ll be able to do that if you’re always so tightly wound?” Vivian asked, thumbs caressing Betty’s cheeks.

“I don’t have time to relax,” Betty insisted, shaking her head just a little. 

It only made Vivian hold tighter. “You have to make time. Now, since you’re taking back the girls, I’m guessing you have time to spare because you’ve probably caught the bad guys. You should come back here tomorrow and have tea with me.”

“Vivian—” The officer attempted to object, but she was not given the chance. 

“Don’t tell me no or I’ll never do you another favor,” the blue-eyed beauty promised and she sounded quite seriously.

Betty sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll come by tomorrow and we’ll have tea.” It would be nice to sit still, be calm, and enjoy some tea.

“No, no, no. Say it like you mean it, so I can trust you,” Vivian said.

“I _do_ mean it. I’ll come by, as long as I don’t have anything else to do, which I shouldn’t. So, I will have tea and whatever else you want,” Betty vowed.

Vivian seemed to brighten. She smiled and everything. She finally removed her hands from Betty’s face and then Betty turned her attention to the door. Vivian knew Betty was leaving before the brunette even stood up. Betty bid Vivian farewell by telling her to go back to sleep. The blond pouted, but she settled back down to go back to sleep because it was the best thing for her. 

Betty made her way to Kim and Yori’s room. She had learned from her first time coming to collect information for them that they slept there like they did anywhere else, namely on high alert. She had learned it the hard way, too. She had entered the room in the middle of the night only to be tackled by Kim while Yori pressed an undoubtedly poisoned shuriken to her throat. She had not made that mistake a second time.

Betty made some noise before she slipped into the room. It was a specific sound and warned the two spies it was her entering the room. The first couple of times they dived into bed to pretend they were sleeping like “normal” people. They did it because they thought they might get admonished for not being “normal.” After a while though, they did not even bother with pretending since Betty had already busted them the first time and she was no fool anyway. They were very aware they had not tricked her, even that first time. 

Kim and Yori were sitting up in the room. It would seem they were waiting for Betty to show up. Betty almost laughed when she saw them, but she caught herself. They were clearly ready to go. They were anxious and eager to depart like any prisoners being granted freedom.

“Did you bring pants?” the girls asked simultaneously and that broke Betty. She chuckled.

“No, I didn’t. I guess you’re just going to have to go home like that,” Betty answered.

“I told you,” Kim said to Yori.

“That you did,” the ninja concurred. They both frowned. 

“Will you two knock it off before I leave you here? You know, Vivian might not act like it, but she likes you two and she could use two good musicians,” Betty threatened the pair and they believed her. In all actuality, there was no way she could just leave them there without it ruining way too many lives and ultimately leading to her, at the least, having to commit suicide, if the girls did not kill her first anyway.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” Yori urged Kim. She had a husband she wanted to get back to and if she never saw another okobo, it would be too soon. 

“All right, let me just get my swords,” the redhead replied.

Betty nodded and she wondered where Kim stashed the weapons. Yori knew the space, so it did not strike her curiosity. The brown-haired warrior watched as Kim lifted up her futon and reached into a small hole she had put in the thing. Kim yanked out her swords from her bed.

“That explains why you weren’t sleeping on the thing,” Betty muttered.

“Well, I’m ready,” Kim stated. She had to put the swords where they were close to her. She just would have not have been comfortable otherwise.

“It’s time to get you two home,” Betty agreed. 

Yori and Kim nodded. They were ready to go home and forget the whole shameful undercover operation had happened. They exited the room and the house silently. They hit the streets and strolled off toward the Stoppable manor since it was closer. They dropped Yori off. 

The shinobi (ninja) entered the house quietly and sneaked right into her shared bedroom with Ron. He was knocked out as far as sleep was concerned. He was an odd sleeper. He always looked totally out, but if someone got close enough, he woke up in an instant. And she happily got close enough.

Ron shot up and dashed toward the intruder. He clashed weapons with the perceived trespasser. As soon as he noticed whom it was he drew his knife on, she was pressing her lips to his.

“Yori!” He grinned against her mouth and then wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so glad to be back,” she informed him while dropping her weapon. She had only drawn the blade because she was well aware of how her husband woke up. It would not do them any good if he killed her in a half-sleep stage of alert.

“I’m glad you’re back, too. Why were you gone for so long?” he inquired while making sure to keep her in his arms. He would not let her go anytime soon, especially considering how good it felt to have her pressed against him.

“You know, what I always do,” she answered cryptically. She doubted she would ever be able to tell him what she had to do, even though no one touched her inappropriately. It was just that it could have happened and she had been in such a disagreeable situation in the first place.

“As long as you’re here to stay now,” he commented, kissing the side of her head.

Yori nodded because as far as she knew she was there to stay for a while. It was not likely that she would be given another mission anytime soon because Betty was a little more considerate than that. She should be able to stay with him and just enjoy him before another mission came up. The thought made her smile. 

Ron decided against asking about the mission since she would not tell him why she was gone for so long. It had been well over two months and he was just so happy ] she was back. He leaned down and kissed her again to expression his joy with her return. She eagerly accepted the show of affection. It felt so indescribably good to be together again.

“We’re going to have to have a feast in your honor,” he declared. 

She smiled. “You just want an excuse to both cook and eat.”

“Hey, we’ll all like it,” he replied with a grin. She did not deny that, giving him another kiss of agreement. 

-8-8-8-8-

“So, what did you tell my parents for them to be all right with me being gone for so long?” Kim asked Betty as they made their way to her home.

“I told them you had to track a criminal for me and you probably ran into some of your usual things since he seemed to be heading south and he had a head start on you,” Betty explained.

Kim shrugged; it was plausible. A few times in life, she had disappeared for a couple or more months while hunting down fugitives for Betty. She just did not like to lie about it, but she would rather lie than to tell her parents where she actually was for the past couple of months. So, it would seem she would be lying.

“How worried did they seem while I was gone?” Kim asked. Her parents made it a habit of harassing Betty when Kim was gone even though they did not know exactly who Betty was when it came to her occupation as the leader of the secret police. They knew Betty was a good reason for their daughter missing for more than a couple of days, though.

“They both came by my house a few times a week. Luckily for me, I’m never home,” Betty answered.

“Unlucky for you, they know where to find you,” the teenager remarked.

“That they do,” the one-eyed woman admitted with a sigh. The Possibles somehow knew where to find her almost anywhere she might be, wanting to know any kind of news about their wandering daughter. She could understand that, but it was annoying. She still did not know how they always found her, except maybe Ann really was a kitsune and using magic. 

“Well, sorry if they’ve been a handful, Director-sama.”

“It’s all right. I know how they are and you’re their daughter, after all. So, you don’t have to apologize,” Betty replied.

Kim shrugged because she did not know what else to do. She bid Betty farewell and entered the house. She went right to her room. She would announce her return in the morning to avoid interrupting her family’s rest.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego eased her way into the holding cell area. The prisoners heard a yelp, but they did not know what it was until they saw Shego. She motioned to them to be quiet by holding a finger to her lips. 

“What are you doing here?” Drakken demanded to know. He was enthused to see her, even though that feeling did not come out in his tone. Part of him was even declaring how he knew that she would rescue him. 

“What the hell is wrong with you? Be quiet. I’m here to get you out of here, of course,” Shego replied.

“Oh!” Drakken said with wide, surprised eyes.

“A break out? For all of us?” Senior asked from his cell. 

Shego made a face. “I didn’t say all that.”

“If you free me, we can all go to my castle and regroup,” Senior informed her. 

“Yes, then we can get revenge!” Drakken proclaimed rather loudly, making a tight fist.

“Will you be quiet?” Shego hissed, glaring at this idiot. 

“Father, who is this woman. anyway?” Junior asked as he took a good look at Shego, who was not wearing her mask or hat. She liked her hat, but it was difficult to sneak into a fortified area wearing a large hat. She disliked the mask and only wore it to be granted access at the teahouse.

“The woman saving your skin. Now everyone shut up, sit back, thank me when this is all over,” Shego informed them. 

The warrior woman ignited her hands and carefully went through wooden bars. She had no desire to start a fire, especially since she could possibly kill several hundred people if she set the place ablaze and destroy priceless artifacts.

“When you get out, go that way,” she told them. She pointed in the direction that everyone should flee to. There was a hidden passage for them that way.

“Are you some kind of demon?” Junior asked when he saw how Shego freed them.

“Yeah, the bitchy kind. Do you want to leave or see what it’s like to lose your intestines?” Shego inquired. 

Junior did not argue with that response and he exited the cell with the stream of other prisoners. Shego continued to direct everyone where to go, which surprised a few people who were perceptive.

“How do you know about this secret hall in the Shogun’s palace?” Senior inquired as they made a clean getaway.

Shego shrugged. “I’ve escaped this place a few times in my life.” 

No one argued as they made their way unmolested through corridors. There were sprinkles of guards as Shego led them on, but they laid out unconscious. Senior gave her a look and she smiled.

“I had some fun while making my grand entrance,” Shego boasted. 

“Perhaps she’s a demon,” Junior muttered.

Shego would have gone off on him, but right now she had other things to worry about. She would get him back for the insult when she had a chance, though. For now, they needed to get the hell out of here before someone realized the carnage she wrought on the way in.

The poor souls never saw her coming — entering or exiting — and certainly did not expect her to know so many classified ways to enter the castle. The path out was pretty clear, but Shego figured they could use a little distraction, so she started a very small fire in place she believed it would be not burn the whole palace down.

“You all get going. I’ve got something else I need to do,” Shego said.

“What do you mean something else?” Drakken inquired.

“Just something else. Now, you might want to get going before they leave you,” Shego pointed out.

Drakken noticed the Seniors were leaving without him and he did not know how to get to their castle. He ran off with them and they all eventually stole some horses to hasten their escape. Shego ran off. She had one more person she figured she could rescue since she was playing the hero tonight.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Shego goes to rescue that one last person while Betty finds out about the sudden lack of prisoners.


	9. Add to The Pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

9: Add to The Pressure

“Since I seem to be in good cheer, I might as well go get her. I know she doesn’t want to leave, but I think I can convince her otherwise,” Shego murmured raced toward the geisha house. 

She considered her work “good cheer” because she was pretty sure that had she allowed Drakken and the Seniors to be executed, she would have lived a much happier and fulfilling life. Instead, she had just broken out a gaggle of traitors and set a small part of the Shogun’s castle on fire. So, she figured stealing one maiko would not make much difference in the trouble she was getting herself into.

So, she made her way toward “Akako-chan.” She slid into the girls’ room, expecting to be tackled again. She braced herself for it, but she was surprised when nothing happened. The room was bare, as if no one had ever lived there.

“What the?” Shego muttered and she punched the floor in anger. “Where the hell is Akako-chan?” she snarled.

Shego tore out of the room and went to ask the lady in charge where her Akako-chan was. The only thing was that she did not know where to find that lady. So, she had to search the whole place. It was a good thing she knew what the woman looked like or she would have just been going through every room and yanking up every person she saw to find out where the redheaded shamisen player was.

She crept into the room and pulled out a shuriken. She put the weapon to Vivian’s throat while sitting down on the woman. Vivian coughed as she woke up for the second time that night; the first time had been a little more pleasant. Shego put her hand over Vivian’s mouth as the blond screamed.

“Shh! I don’t want to have to hurt you too much. I just have one question and then I’ll disappear and you can forget you ever saw me,” Shego informed the blue-eyed female.

“Mmm?” Vivian asked in an unclear, muffled sound thanks to the hand covering her mouth.

“Where’s Akako-chan?” the plasma-wielder inquired and she lifted her hand up slightly for Vivian to give her a clear answer.

“I don’t know,” Vivian answered while shaking her head as well.

Emerald eyes narrowed. “What do you mean you don’t know? She’s your maiko. Now, tell me where she is,” Shego demanded to know in a low growl.

“She’s gone,” Vivian stated.

Shego found herself getting more and more upset. “What do you mean ‘gone’? You sold her or gave her away?”

“No, she’s just gone.”

“Then when is she coming back?” Shego asked.

“She’s not.”

“What do you mean ‘she’s not’? This doesn’t make any sense. Where is she?” Shego snarled.

“I don’t know. She’s gone.”

Shego wondered if Akako had run away. The thought actually made her smile. She was happy the girl had left her gilded cage, and possibly even took her friend with her. Maybe she was out searching for what she wanted from life. Well, that was good news, but Shego felt just a little dejected knowing she would not see the girl anymore.

“Did she run away?” Shego inquired.

Vivian was not sure what to say. Should she agree with that lie or make up one of her own? Well, she supposed she could go with that one since it was not like she could offer up any information on the girl. She hoped would get rid of the person holding a blade to her throat.

“Yes,” Vivian confirmed.

“Okay. You don’t go looking for her, got it?” Shego ordered.

Vivian nodded, especially since she did not have any plans to go looking for “Akako.” Shego thought she was saving the girl because she knew people would go out searching for a missing geisha. She wanted to help give the girl a chance. Akako deserved a chance.

Shego was gone within the blink of an eye, almost as if she had never even been there. Vivian breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her throat. Once she was certain she was not bleeding, she rubbed her forehead.

“Those girls are still giving me trouble and they’re gone. They’re just the gift that keeps on giving,” she muttered and then she was struck by a thought. “What the hell does that woman want with Akako?”

The only reason she knew it was a woman that had been in the room was because of the voice. The darkness had obscured the features enough for her to not have guessed what the person was if she had not started asking question. She had not been able to make out any part of the person.

“Still, I might have to warn the girls and Betty,” she decided.

She considered getting up and getting dressed to go tell Betty that some woman was looking for the redheaded warrior, but she decided against it. She would tell Betty about what happened tomorrow when the brunette came in for tea. She thought she had that time because whoever that woman was, she seemed to know about as much about Akako as Vivian herself knew, which was not much. After all, the woman had referred to the redhead as “Akako-chan” and even though it was never said, Vivian knew that was not the girl’s true name.

There was also the fact that the woman used the term “chan” when referring to the girl. She did not seem to be a threat, but more worried about the redhead’s wellbeing. Still, Vivian would mention the incident to Betty just in case it was something serious.

With that decided, Vivian tried to go back to sleep. It was not as easy as she could have hoped. But, she at least was not again interrupted again that night. 

-8-8-8-8-

Betty actually hoped to get some sleep. It was a rare thing for her and she usually did not even hope. She went home and took a long hot bath. She sighed in the water and soaked for a while in the liquid bliss of hot water. She then threw on a plain yukata and went to lie down. She smiled as her head hit her pillow. Sweet sleep without any worries for the moment; how beautiful.

“Director-sama!” a voice called and Betty shot up from her resting place.

 _Why?_ Betty shouted in her head. She only made a noise aloud, wanting to acknowledge whoever called for her.

“Director-sama! The palace is on fire!” one of her agents reported, racing through her home, quite loudly, obviously on the way to her bedroom.

Her eye bugged out for a moment. “The palace is on fire?” She nearly scoffed. No one was daft enough to set the palace on fire!

“Director-sama!” The agent finally reached the room and practically ripped her shoji open. The agent was met by a barefoot in his face, which easily dropped him. He fell to the floor.

“You know better than that,” Betty said to the agent while standing on his back. She understood he was excited and everything, but he had to remember his place and his manners.

“Sorry, Director-sama,” he groaned. He had heard she had powerful kicks, but now he could testify to that statement. She was also very fast because he had not even glimpsed the foot before he felt the force on his skull.

“Now, what’s happening?” Betty inquired.

“The palace, it’s on fire! They’re trying to put it out and everything, but I thought you should know,” he informed her.

Betty sighed and decided she would go check it out. She returned to her room and put on some proper clothes, including dark blue hakama. She exited the room and started marching out of the house while her subordinate remained laid out on the floor.

“Are you coming or what?” Betty huffed, speaking to her agent.

He climbed to his feet, much too quickly, and nearly fell over. Once he righted himself, he chased after the boss like a puppy. She fought a frown. _I’ll have to remember to reassign him_.

They marched to the palace and saw that it was on fire, but things seemed to be under control. The fire was not big and close to being quelled completely. Betty considered going to check on the prisoners, but they were on the other side of the place, so she doubted the fire had any effect on them. Besides, there were plenty of guards around them to make sure that nothing happened and she trusted the guards for the most part. Well, the Shogun trusted the guards and she was obligated to trust the Shogun, therefore by trusting the Shogun, she trusted the guards.

“And that thought itself hurt my head,” Betty muttered, but stood by it.

There was also the tiny fact that she really just wanted to get some sleep. She had time to herself for the first time in a long time and she wanted to actually unwind before she actually snapped in two like everyone suspected she would one day soon. She stuck around for a couple of minutes, until the fire was totally put out.

“Give me details about this,” Betty requested from someone who rushed by.

She was assured it was a small fire and was probably started by someone carelessly emptying pipe embers or something on some dry leaves. She nodded and she was glad it was rather insignificant. This meant she could go back home without a guilty conscience, which she did.

Betty eased into bed again and tried to get some sleep. She thought about the day she would have tomorrow, relaxing. It seemed almost like a dream to be able to do such a thing. She would spend the day with Vivian, who made just about the best tea of all time in her opinion. Maybe she would ever spoil herself and have some junk food. She could use some sweets and good conversation that Vivian tended to offer up.

She smiled as she finally drifted off to sleep. Relaxing sounded like such a great thing to her tense, overworked mind and body. She could not wait for tomorrow. 

-*-(Next day)-*-

“Director-sama!”

Betty shot up from her resting place as she heard her name being called again like the world was coming to an end. She got up from her bed and as one of her employees opened her shoji, he was met with her foot. Turned out, she kicked her own nephew. The agent that had called her stood a few feet away.

Betty looked a bit shocked when she realized she knocked her nephew out cold. But, she was not very remorseful. He should know better.

After a few seconds, Will started mumbling and seemed fine. Betty turned her attention to the other agent, who looked away. He seemed way too innocent, like he knew about the greeting that met anyone who charged Betty’s private chambers and that was probably why he let Will go to open the door. This only made her more disappointed in Will. But, she grabbed him to help him up, even though he was still in a daze.

“What happened?” Betty demanded with a scowl.

“All of the prisoners are gone!” the agent reported.

“What?” Betty shouted and then she dropped her half-conscious nephew. Will hit the deck with a big “thump!” while his aunt went to grab her other agent.

“The prisoners escaped!” he repeated.

“What the hell do you mean they escaped?” she shrieked, feeling like she might erupt. A colony of prisoners in secured cells managed to escape? What did the guards have jobs for if such a thing was feasible? _Of course the Shogun trusts idiots!_

“They’re not in the cells anymore!” he answered, trembling in the grip of his furious boss.

Betty flung the agent to the floor and went back into her room. She threw on her clothes and pushed open her shoji with a frightening force. Will and the other agent gulped because of her evident anger. They would not have been surprised to see flames rising off of her because of her fury. They watched her march down the hall.

“Are you two coming or taking a nap?” Betty growled like a lion.

The pair of agents climbed to their feet in a hurry and followed behind their leader. They went to the holding cells and saw that they were all empty. Betty growled in anger while inspecting the bars. She looked at the wood and noticed it seemed burned, but cleanly done.

“What could make these marks?” Betty mumbled.

She might have considered a weapon, but she could not figure out what kind of blade would leave burn evidence. It was just that the cuts were so precise. Running her fingers along the edges, she arched an eyebrow. _Maybe…_

“How did they get out of here?” Betty inquired. She needed more information.

“We don’t know. The guards were all knocked unconscious until this morning. They don’t remember what happened. We don’t really know what happened with these bars either,” Will reported.

“Well, do we know how they made it out of the palace?” Betty demanded. Even if the prisoners had gotten out of the cells, they should have been mixed up with all of the corridors and dead-ends. They should still be trapped in the castle somewhere.

“We’re not too sure. We think they might’ve taken a secret passage way,” Will answered.

Betty was confused. How was it possible for those people to know what route to take to get out of the castle? She had agents who still got lost around the place. There were vassals who had lived there all their lives and they occasionally got lost in the castle and she was supposed to believe a huge group of people had all found the right way out of it one night? It was not even logical, let alone believable, so she felt it could not be reality.

“They had to have help if that was the case, inside help,” Betty spoke under her breathe.

“What should we do?” Will inquired.

“Give me a moment to process all of this,” Betty said.

Will nodded and left the boss alone for a moment, so she could think and come up with a battle plan to correct the guards’ mistakes. Betty quickly figured out what she wanted to do and she then split her team up. She wanted one group to trace the escape route of their prisoners and she wanted the other group to trace how the escape was engineered. She also put some agents on trying to uncover if an insider had assisted in the escape since one of the secret tunnels was possibly used to break out.

Betty then remembered the fire from last night and considered that was probably a distraction, so she wanted to know everything possible about that fire. She then ordered all of her agents to get moving. They did not have time to fool around.

Betty sighed and got moving herself. If the prisoners had escaped and made it out of the city, they were probably heading to the Seniors’ castle in their province. If they made it that far, then they were going to be able to fortify themselves in the castle’s walls and wage a proper battle. She did not want that.

The one-eyed woman figured she had better get the fastest tracker she knew on the case. She was going back to the Possible manor and she would have to borrow Kim again. No one else would be able to the job as rapidly as the redhead in her opinion. She quickly made her way to the house and discovered the family “enjoying” a typical breakfast.

“Hey, get your filthy hands away from my pickles!” Kim barked as her brothers stole a couple of her pickles. She shook her fist at them.

Ann tried to wrangle the boys, but it was hard since there were two of them. James was not very helpful, as he was busy stealing the boys’ pickles. They all began tussling about, acting like little kids. It would seem that the Possibles really liked pickles. Or they just liked getting on each other’s nerves.

“Director-sama,” the whole family said sheepishly with blushes coloring their cheeks as they noticed the one-eyed woman standing in the doorway.

The family needed to be rather embarrassed in Betty’s opinion. They all looked rather ridiculous with Kim holding her brothers at bay using one arm and a foot. Her mother was holding Kim’s other hand because the teen seemed to be ready to punch her brothers with that hand. James was caught reaching over to the boys’ dishes and plucking away their pickle slices. It was utterly amazing to Betty that such a group could hold the title of samurai.

“Kim-dono, a word, please,” Betty requested.

“Um… of course,” Kim answered with a wrinkled brow. She had been home all of one night, so she could not imagine what Betty wanted with her now. She turned her attention back to her brothers. “You eat my pickles and you don’t even want to know where I’m going to put my chopsticks,” she informed the boys.

“Kimmie,” Ann scolded her daughter for such a threat.

“Sorry, Mom,” Kim apologized, even though they all knew she did not mean it. After all, if she were truly sorry, she would not have said it in the first place.

Ann did not say anything and Kim was excused from the meal for the moment. Kim stood up and stepped out to join Betty. They could hear Jim and Tim freak out when they noticed their father had eaten all of their pickles.

“Kim-dono, I need your ability,” Betty said in a low tone.

“Which one?” Kim inquired with narrowed eyes. She had many useful talents and now she wanted specifics when dealing with the one-eyed female. The last ability she needed was the most useless one of them all as far as Kim was concerned.

“I need you to track the Seniors,” Betty stated.

Now, olive eyes squinted and the samurai shook her head. “Aren’t they in jail?” 

“Long story short, they escaped.”

“Escaped?” Kim echoed. _How did they escape?_ Could Yojimbo-san have had something to do with it? She hoped not. With luck, the guards that had been watching the Seniors were just extremely bad at their jobs and the Seniors somehow engineered their own getaway. 

“Like I said, it’s a long story. I just need you to get on your horse and track them as quickly as possible,” Betty implored the younger woman. 

“Well, they’re probably heading toward Senior’s castle,” Kim pointed out.

“I’d like to be sure of that, so if you could get going, it would make my life a just little easier,” the one-eyed woman commented. 

Kim shook her head. “I can’t just leave. I just got in last night. My parents would freak out.”

“Look, I need to find them before they get a chance to regroup. I’d like to catch them before make it to the castle. What if they have more guns there? Or even worse weapons, considering some of the weird things that were packed away in those boxes. So, I need you to get going now.”

Olive eyes went wide. “You want me to stop a whole army of people before they make to a castle?” Kim could do anything, but come on, some things would take a lot more than just her to pull stuff off.

“Take your sidekick and his wife and get moving,” Betty commanded, motioning outside with her hand.

“And now you’re dragging Ron and Yori into this?” the teen asked in disbelief. She had just separated the couple of two months and now she was butting in on their lives again? The leader of the secret police seemed to be getting a bit outrageous in Kim’s opinion.

“This is serious! Those people want to destroy the government and split the empire. Don’t act so selfish,” Betty replied in a snarl. The stress was obviously already getting to her. She could not believe that the prisoners, all of them, a whole freaking group, had escaped. What did they have guards for if that could happen? What was the point of her gathering information and going into dangerous situations if prisoners were now just able to walk out of their holding cells? Questions like that were constantly bombarding her mind now.

Kim frowned, disliking being told she was selfish by a woman who had just snatched her out of her home for more than two months and placed her well below her station. She had just shamed herself for the woman and her sense of duty to her country and this woman had the _nerve_ to call her selfish. Kim had half a mind to go back and finish her breakfast, leaving Betty to do whatever she had to do on her own.

“Director-sama, I know it’s serious and I know what those people want to do. I also understand you’re under a lot of pressure, but I just got in and your lack of respect on my end makes it hard for me to want to go out and do anything for you, especially after what I just finished doing for you,” Kim pointed out.

Betty’s face tightened in a mechanical manner as if a crank was turned to make it happen. She wanted to strike Kim for being difficult at a time that she did not need anything aside from support and cooperation. But, she knew that the redhead had a point. She had already asked so much of Kim and the redhead had little obligation to her. Yes, Kim had an obligation to the nation like any other person, but it was not her task in life to hunt down criminals. Kim just did it because she felt like it. She helped because she felt like it.

“Kim-dono,” Betty sighed, running a tired hand through her hair. “I need you to do this. I want them caught before they make it to his castle. If they have more guns and such, we could be in for one tough fight. It’d be best to stop them before they make it there and I know you can track them down the fastest. I can have more people follow behind you, but I just need them caught fast.”

Kim looked away. “Fine, I’ll track them for you. Let me go get my gear and then go get my friend,” she replied. She had to do something because she could tell that Betty was near the end of her rope. It seemed like all their effort and work might be pissed away. Besides, she had worked on the case for so long that she could not just allow the traitors to get away.

“All right. Keep in touch in the usual manner,” Betty said and then she was going to leave, but she stopped herself. She did not face Kim. “Arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much), Kim-dono,” she said in a clear tone.

“No big,” Kim replied with a scoff.

Betty knew that was not true. Still, she took her leave to go and handle the situation even further. There was so much to do and so little time.

Kim returned to her family and the meal. She sighed as she thought about how she was going to have to leave again. _My parents were going to freak_ , she thought.

“Mom, Dad, I need to go,” Kim blurted out. It seemed like the best way to go about things instead of dancing around the issue like a bug.

“Go?” the parents echoed in puzzled tone with expressions to match.

“Yeah, Director-sama needs me to track some people for her,” Kim informed them.

“But, she just asked you to do something and you only got back last night. That’s not fair,” Ann argued.

“Not at all. Aren’t there other people that can do things like this? We don’t want you gone for another couple of months,” James added in.

“Well, I should do my part, like everyone else. I mean, Mom, if someone was sick today and you went to see them and then they were sick again tomorrow, you wouldn’t go?” Kim asked. 

“It’s not the same thing,” the elder redhead argued.

“It all boils down to you want to help and I want to help. We all have to do what we can,” Kim pointed out.

The parents sighed. They knew there was no stopping Kim because there never was any stopping her. She would take off and do what she wanted anyway. So, Kim was excused again and she went to get ready to leave. She packed up some things for her journey and was then on her way to go pick up Ron and Yori. Her mother halted her before she made it out of the manor.

“Here, take some food, too,” Ann instructed her daughter while handing over a neat bundle to the warrior. 

“I’ll try not to take too long, Mom. I promise,” Kim vowed.

“Just be safe in whatever you do,” Ann implored. 

“I will.”

Ann nodded and let her child go, again. She wished Kim just stayed home for a little while. She had been worried about Kim being out for so long and had some difficulty sleeping during that time, as she often did when her daughter vanished for a length of time. She supposed she would always worry until Kim settled down and even that was doubtful.

After all, Kim was engaged to Du Will. Ann had been against that agreement, but the matriarch of the Possible clan had to have her way as always. She wanted the Possible family to have connections with the Director family because they were rather powerful and prestigious. There were also the connections with the Du family, which was another powerful family. So, Kim and Will would be getting married and Ann just hoped no one got hurt in the process, even though everyone was almost certain some injuries were waiting in the wings of that union.

Ann was more worried about scars people could not see, though. She did not want her daughter changed because of the marriage. She just wanted Kim to enjoy life and live life the way she wanted. With that thought, she walked back to breakfast. She needed to let Kim go, then.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim sat with Ron and Yori to explain the situation to them. The couple was all frowns and tight faces, which she expected. When she sat down with them, she could tell they would not like what she had to say because they hugged up next to each other, as if telling her that they were not going anywhere and they would not be separated. She hoped they changed their minds now that she explained the circumstances to them because she did not wish to go along on her own. 

“So, you guys with me?” Kim asked with hope in her eyes, voice, and smile.

“It’s not that we’re _not_ with you…” Ron replied hesitantly. 

“You guys are not going to just let me go after a bunch of fugitives on my own. I mean, that would be so wrong,” the redhead commented.

“Of course we wouldn’t do that to you, Kim!” Ron replied with a giant grin. He laughed a little bit and then he hugged Yori closer to him. They were not cold, cruel, or heartless, after all.

“Then why are you holding Yori-chan like as soon as I leave, you two are going to cut out on me?” Kim asked, looking back and forth between them.

“We’d never!” Ron said in a rather exaggerated tone.

“You do it all the time,” Kim pointed out. 

“That we do,” Yori muttered. Ron used to get a kick out of disappearing on Kim when he was with Yori just because it was just nice to get over with something every now and then. They still did it on occasion, but not for something important or serious.

“Look, we’ll help. We’ll help,” the blond replied.

“Well, we need to get moving then. Pack some gear and let’s go. With luck, we can catch these people and be home in a few days and never have to think about it again,” Kim declared.

“She enjoys this wishing out loud thing,” Yori commented, speaking to Ron.

“I know. I do the same,” Ron admitted with a goofy grin.

“I probably get it from you,” Kim remarked. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego caught up with Drakken and the Seniors. They had stolen horses, just as she had. They had also wisely left their men and others to fend for themselves to make an expeditious and more subtle getaway. She was willing to bet that was not Drakken’s idea; it was too practical and smart at the same time to be born in his rotten mind.

“Shego!” Drakken basically hooted when her horse pulled up next to his. He was rather pleased to see her and thankful she had done her job, namely guarding his body by removing him from that damp cell. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. What, you thought you’d gotten rid of me that easily?” Shego remarked. She guessed it was all right that she had not been able to bring Akako with her. After all, she already was going to be bombarded with questions about who she was and how she managed to break them out of jail. She probably would not answer any of those questions. She would not have liked having to hear questions about who Akako was if she had brought the maiko along.

“This is the young lady that freed us?” Senior inquired.

“Name’s Shego,” she informed him.

“And who are you?” Senior asked with an arched eyebrow.

“She’s my sidekick,” Drakken stated.

“Sidekick?” Shego growled and she looked at Drakken with an expression of pure fury.

“What?” Drakken asked because he noticed her face.

“Sidekick?” Senior echoed and then he looked carefully at her. It was easy for him to connect the dots as to who she was, especially since she had the green skin and all. He was not sure what he should say now that he knew just who she was. “I hope my son didn’t offend you,” he commented since he remembered all of the times Junior had sent her off to be with the little shamisen player. But, then he was a bit curious because a few times Shego voluntarily left with the redheaded maiko. Maybe she connected with the musician in someway, but he was not sure how. Knowing she was woman now only bemused him on her time at the teahouse.

“No sweat,” Shego replied while glancing at Junior. She could not be mad at him for acting like a brainless monkey since she got to meet someone somewhat interesting.

“Might I ask about that thing with your hands?” Senior inquired. 

“Yeah, how did you make fire with your hands? Are you a demon?” Junior asked again. 

“Didn’t we go through this before?” Shego countered because of the demon comment. She was willing to bet that birds nested in his skull instead of a brain.

Junior yelped while his father was not deterred. “But, how do you do that thing with your hands?” Senior asked.

“It’s just something I do. Don’t question it. Just be happy that it and I felt like saving your butts,” Shego replied. 

Senior was surprised by the response. He was not used to being treated in such a brisk, almost foul manner. He frowned, but he did not antagonize her further. He considered his son had a point and she probably was a demon.

Shego did not care what they thought. She was not interested in telling them about her personal life and why she could do what she could do anyway. She was not there to explain herself to them, which was something they needed to understand and accept. They needed to just be happy she could do everything that she could and that she was on their side for the moment. After all, with the way she worked, that could change within an instant since she felt no sense of anything toward them. They were just amusing to her and the running right now was amusing to her. In her opinion, they were lucky Akako had run away or she might have just taken off to wherever the little redhead wanted to go.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim, Ron, and Yori set out to find the fugitives while Shego is annoyed, thinks of “Akako,” and attacked by someone close to her.


	10. Wandering Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

10: Wandering Thoughts

Kim, Ron, and Yori easily got on what they believed to be the tracks of the fugitives. It was becoming clear they were more than likely not going to catch their prey before they made it to Senior’s castle, but they pressed on. There was always the chance they might catch the group. After all, all sorts of things could happen that could delay the getaway, like a horse could be injured, a person could get ill, or any number of things. 

“I hope this isn’t for nothing,” Ron said, just trying to make conversation. Yori was the only paying attention to him, though.

Kim was too wrapped up in her own head to respond. She prayed Yojimbo-san was not involved with any of this. But, she could just feel it in her bones. This was his party and she doubted he would just abandon them, even though that would have been the wise thing.

Kim felt like she had saved the green-skinned bodyguard before by keeping him from being involved in the criminal roundup, but he had only re-signed his death warrant if he had anything to do with the breakout. Why would he throw his life away like that? Well, she guessed it was because he was loyal to the man that he was supposed to protect. She guessed she could understand that, but she wished he had taken the chance to run and continue to be free.

Yojimbo-san’s master’s situation was practically hopeless, or so Kim thought. She had not banked on Yojimbo-san being able actually infiltrate the castle and then exit with a large amount of prisoners without being seen. But, who could calculate such a factor in if that was what happened? She did not want that to be the case. She did not want him to die, so she hoped there was some other explanation for the escape.

“Hey, can we stop for lunch?” Ron requested and then his stomach growled loudly. This drew Kim from her thoughts.

“Eat while you ride. We need to catch these guys,” Kim replied.

“Eat while I ride? What if I drop the food?” Ron whined.

“What if we lose this trail?” the redhead countered.

“We’re going to lose this trail? A blind man could follow this trail!” Ron shouted in disbelief.

“Uh-huh, blind,” Rufus concurred while crawling out of Ron’s haori (1) sleeve and looking down at the trail. 

“We’ve only got a limited amount of time. Senior’s castle isn’t that far. If they make it there, they can make a stand. If they have guns, it could be a bloody battle. We have to try our best to catch them before they hit that castle,” Kim argued.

“She’s right, anata (darling),” Yori said, using the term of endearment to hopefully calm her husband down and it worked. 

Ron sighed, but he did not say anything else. He guessed that making sure a senseless, bloody battle did not happen was more important than lunch. Maybe. He could not be totally sure. After all, lunch was _lunch_. Food was just about the most important thing to him outside of his family, his wife, and his friends.

He glanced down at the packet that held his lunch. He was tempted to just eat while they rode, which his wife and best friend did. He was seriously nervous he might drop his food, though. It was rather unlikely, but he always thought and worried about the “what if.” What if he did drop it? He would be crushed.

Still, he noticed Kim and Yori eating their food — small rice balls. He decided he would risk possibly dropping his food because he was hungry. He pulled out his own lunch and was about to take a bite when his horse suddenly tripped.

Ron and Rufus yelped as they went tumbling. The horse hit the ground along with its rider and pet. The blond and Rufus tumbled a few yard while the ladies gasped when they noticed what happened. They pulled their horses to a halt and fell to Ron’s side.

“Anata, are you all right?” Yori begged to know in a frantic tone, searching his body for injuries. They had all bore witness to some serious injuries of people falling from their horses and she hoped that Ron was not on that list now. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” Ron answered with a groan. He sat up and looked around. “Oh, no. Where’s Rufus? Rufus!” he called.

“Calm down, Ron-kun,” Yori said. She went back to her usual public address for Ron since he was not injured.

“Do you see Rufus? Rufus!” Ron hollered with wide, wet eyes. He checked his sleeves for his little bald buddy. 

“Hey, Ron-kun, do like Yori-chan says. Calm down,” Kim said.

“I can’t. Rufus!” Ron screamed, head swiveling to find Rufus. 

“Hey!” Rufus squeaked as he poked out of Kim’s red mane. Apparently, he had been flung much further from the crash than Ron.

“Rufus, buddy!” Ron grinned as the mole rat charged over to him. The pair embraced each other. 

“You get the feeling you’ll always be second in his heart?” Kim teased Yori.

“Well, Rufus was there first, so I suppose it will be my honor to be second,” Yori answered with a bit of a laugh.

Kim chuckled a bit and then went to go inspect Ron’s horse. The horse was climbing to its feet, but it seemed to be having some trouble. She watched the poor steed try to walk. It took a few seconds. Even though the horse appeared fine, Kim was willing to bet it would not be able to carry Ron’s weight for a while. She then went to see if something in the road might have caused the horse to fall.

The redhead spotted a hole that was probably dug into the road. Was that a subtle trap? Little did she know, but yes, it was. Shego had stopped and put a few holes in the roads to hopefully slow up anyone after her and her group. It apparently worked. Kim now knew they had to be extremely cautious on the road or their healthy horses could suffer similar or worse accidents.

“How’s my horse?” Ron called to his best friend. He hoped the animal was better than his lunch. He did not even know where his meal landed. He knew he should have just waited until they stopped to eat, but no, he had to tempt fate. 

“Just as good as you more than likely,” Kim answered. “We have to be careful because there could be traps along the road,” she warned her companions.

Ron was not sure how to take the response that his horse was as good as he was. He was not too hurt up, but he had just been thrown from a horse. He had a few cuts and he was a little hurt now, but he was not sure what that translated into for his horse. He decided to go and see and found out, which what Kim wanted him to do. It would do the steed while to see Ron and the same with Ron. 

“You don’t look too worse for wear,” Ron said, rubbing his horse’s snout. The horse snorted a little.

He climbed onto his horse and tried to follow behind the ladies again, but it was now clear how his injures could relate to his horse. The horse was not moving as quickly as it could. Ron did not want to hurt his horse any more than it already was and so, he climbed off of his saddle. 

“Ron-kun, ride with me,” Yori suggested.

“All right. Kim, maybe you should ride ahead of us. You might still be able to catch them,” Ron pointed out. 

“Okay, I’ll wait for you guys by the castle if I don’t catch them,” the redheaded samurai informed them.

The couple agreed and Kim took off without them. Ron climbed onto Yori’s horse. She let him sit in front and then she did something that touched his heart. She offered him the rest of her lunch. 

“Thanks, koibito (lover),” he said as if she had given himself extremely precious.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied and she cuddled up to his shoulder. Inappropriate for the time, yes, but she did not care. She was happy to be near him again after so much time apart. So, she would revel in being close to him, no matter what.

Yori’s horse trotted slowly, keeping pace with Ron’s injured steed. The horse was not so hurt that they were just going to let it out of their sight or anything. It just would not have been able to keep up with them if they continued to go after the fugitives. They hoped Kim caught up with them, but also did not get into too much trouble since it was just her. 

Kim rode hard, much harder than when she was with her friends, actually hoping to catch the fugitives even if they were many and she was alone. She still hoped Yojimbo-san was not among them. The wish was in her to a degree she could not even comprehend it, feeling like it consumed her in some way. Despite that, she was alert and cautious about any more holes that might be in the road, in case that had been a trap.

“Please,” she whispered, not even sure what she was begging for.

Her whole being was taut like a rope being pulled on both ends in opposite directions. She had a determination in her eyes that was unlike any look she ever carried during a mission, but she was unaware of it. She could not explain her rigid body language, but she knew it had something to do with her anxiety that the bodyguard would be with the fugitives.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego, Drakken, and the Seniors arrived at the Seniors’ castle and only two of them began preparing for the onslaught they knew would come. Drakken and Junior seemed to think they were safe now that they were in the castle and had the nerve to start relaxing. Junior actually called for sake.

“I’d rather get some sleep,” Drakken said and then he made a show of yawning. Senior directed him and Shego were they would stay before ordering servants around to get ready for a siege. Drakken had the nerve to start walking off. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Shego asked Drakken, grabbing him by the back of his yukata.

“I was going to get some sleep. We’ve been riding for a long time and my butt’s sore,” he answered.

 _Whoa, talk about too much information_ , Shego thought. “Okay, first of all, never, ever mention your butt to me again,” she ordered him in a dead serious tone. “Next, we don’t have time to sleep. You just broke out of jail after being arrested for more than likely your whole plot to overthrow the government and everything, so believe it or not, the Shogun’s going to be sending people after us!” she hollered into his ear, causing Drakken to jump back.

“There’s no need to shout!” Drakken said while sticking his finger in his ear to relieve the pain.

“There’s a need to shout if you’re going to act like a moron! We need to start setting up defenses. We need to stockpile food in here in case they try to starve us out. We need to get men together. We need to do shit,” Shego pointed out.

“She’s right. We’ve got to be prepared for an attack by the Shogun. This is no time for sleep or wine,” Senior stated.

“But, Father, I’m tired and thirsty,” Junior whined.

“Well, if we don’t get this place ready, you’ll be sleeping for a long time,” Shego remarked and he actually looked happy about that. “About until you’re reincarnated,” she stated for him to get it. His face fell.

“We really do need to get this place ready for a big fight,” Senior concurred.

“Do you have any weapons here?” the pale woman asked.

“I do, or I hope anyway. I had some of the weapons shipped here when Drakken started delivering them to the manor in Edo. I’ll check to see if they’re here,” Senior replied.

“Okay, you do that. Junior, easy job for you, go out and gather as much food as you can,” Shego ordered.

“I’m not taking orders from an oni (demon/devil),” Junior declared.

Shego growled and she grabbed him by the folds of his kimono. She yanked him down to her level and held up a flexed, clawed hand in his face. He got a view of some very low toned plasma dancing along her fingertips. She scowled at him. 

“If you want to die so badly, how about I do it now to save the samurai coming to have our heads the trouble!” Shego suggested and Junior whimpered.

“Shego!” Drakken sort of scolded her. 

“Ojousan (young woman), unhand my son!” Senior ordered, waving his walking stick at the female warrior in a threatening manner.

Shego turned to the other two men and stared at them with anger flaring in her eyes like her plasma would from her hands. She hated being ordered around and decided to show them it would be a good idea for them to stop doing it. She took Junior and tossed him over her shoulder. He yelled until he hit the ground, but Shego did not even pay him any mind once he was out of her sight.

“Fine, you all want to die this week. I won’t stop you, but I won’t stick around for it either. If you’re so eager to die, you should’ve stayed in the dungeon instead wasting my time,” Shego stated.

“We’re not looking to die,” Senior told her. 

“Then you need to act like it, ojiisan (old man/grandfather),” she replied, calling him that because he had referred to her as “ojousan” instead of using her name. 

“You need to calm down,” Senior told the emerald-eyed female. 

“Don’t tell me what I need to do. Go do what you have to do. We need to start this thing immediately. The Shogun’s forces are probably right on our tails. We don’t have much time,” she pointed out.

Senior nodded. They did not have time to argue amongst themselves, but he made a mental note. He would make sure Shego paid for treating his son as if he was beneath her and for talking to him such a familiar and rude manner. She needed to know her place as a bodyguard for a status-less inventor. He then went to collect his son. 

Junior frowned as he began picking himself up off of the floor with the help of his father. He watched the back of the woman who just disrespected him as she exited the large room. He consciously decided he hated that woman more than he did anyone else on the planet and he would get her back later on.

“I will _never_ forgive her,” Junior whispered to himself. He liked Drakken’s other bodyguard much more; he had not figured out that Shego was the same “skinny chap” he had so merrily offered Akako to back at the teahouse.

“Come on, my son. We have many preparations to make and not much time to do it,” Senior said to his only child, patting Junior on the shoulder.

“Did you see that, Father?” Junior asked, as if it was possible for someone that had been standing right there to miss it. It was not like he was small person, after all.

“I saw,” the elder man affirmed. 

“Are you just going to let her get away with that?” the younger man inquired. 

“Of course not, but for the moment, she has a point. We have to get ready for the Shogun’s reaction to our escape. That’s the important thing because we need to stay alive,” Senior replied.

Junior nodded. They definitely needed to stay alive. He wanted his revenge immediately if not sooner against that demon woman. He was not going to allow her to just treat him as if he was some regular person. He was the son of a daimyo. He was going to inherit the title. He was even engaged to the sister of the Shogun himself, which showed just how powerful his status was. She was beneath him and she needed to know that now. 

The pair went off to prepare for a long stand against the Shogun. They did not think it was possible for them to fall now that they made it to the castle. They would store up some food and gather some men and they would make a stand against the Shogun and whatever dogs that he threw at them. With the weapons they had, Senior was confident for them to be able to hold off the Shogun by crushing any hopeless degenerates that attacked his home.

He considered the battle could work to his favor. If he was able to hold off the Shogun, other lords might come to his side. With combined forces, they could take on the Shogun and then he would still be able to take over the government. Maybe he would be able to have the Emperor declare him the new shogun and if not, well, the Emperor could be made to bend to his will with these weapons.

His scheme might seem a bit odd, maybe even overdone to those that knew his son was actually supposed to be married to the Shogun’s sister. It was an arrangement that had taken place when the previous Shogun was still alive and perhaps he would have settled for just being in the Shogun’s family if only he did not see the chance of gaining more for himself and for his son. He thought this Shogun was weak compared to his father and he should seize the chance when he had it to take over, despite other arrangements.

“Why settle for less when I can have everything?” Senior figured. After all, he did not become a powerful daimyo, way more power than his father before him, by settling. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego sat up in her room that night. She was in the doorway, which opened to a garden. She stared off into the sky and sort of hated that Akako was on her mind. It suggested she was concerned or worried for someone she wished she was not close to in the first place.

“Are you looking at this same sky, Akako-chan?” she wondered. 

She wondered what was going on with the girl, if she had successfully made an escape or if she had been caught and returned to the teahouse. She decided it would probably be best for her to either consider that the girl escaped successfully or just not think of the redhead at all or she might do something stupid, like go back to Edo to find the musician again.

She would have loved to hear Akako playing the shamisen again. She played it well, like she had been born with one in her hands. One quiet nights alone, Shego could still hear the sounds. It made her relax and made her wish even more that she could play the instrument. She had the next best thing, though; someone who could and did play it for her. 

There was also no one to talk to now that Akako was not around. There was no one to playfully tease. Everyone she teased now was done because they were irksome to her and she needed them to know they were idiots. There was nothing for her to do if she just felt like lying around, not that she had time to do that anyway.

They would be under siege soon, after all. She did not think she would die, but she considered it. _It’s a possibility_.

Nothing was guaranteed, so her life might be gone soon and she would never speak with Akako again. Maybe she would be able to live as a ghost around the girl, if only for the shamisen music, but then again, Akako did not like playing the instrument, so she probably would not play it without being ordered to and Shego did not want to be around if someone else commanded the redhead to play. Well, it would seem she was just going to have to die and leave it at that if she did.

“Why can’t I stop thinking about her?” Shego sighed.

No one else came to mind, which was odd for her when she was on the move. Sometimes, when she was alone, she would think of people from the past who had been in her life. No one else entered her mind now, though. Not even her family, even though she rarely thought about them. She hated them. Well, she wanted to believe she hated them. Well, most of them. 

Her family had taken her freedom and so she loathed them with all of her being. Well, actually, she had never had real freedom because of her family. She could not do anything she wanted when she wanted in her opinion. So, she left them and never looked back. She rarely thought about them now and it had been that way since she left.

She did not make any real friends since she had left her family and her home. Akako was the only person she had really taken to recently and in such a thought consuming manner. She was not sure how, when, or why it happened, but it had happened. She did not have anything against making friends, especially one who saw her desire to be free as a reality and not a joke.

She was not sure why she had not really made friends before Akako. She knew she was not friendly or amiable or even likable to some people. _This is probably the reason_ , she told herself. She disliked being bothered and it was so easy to bug her that it was extremely hard for people to get near her. She was also cranky and mean, which was why people did not want to be around her, too. 

Perhaps, she should have stolen Akako that night before running away to see what those fools were up to and finding out that they were arrested. She could have put the girl somewhere safe and then she could have come along. At least she would have someone around who showed signs of intelligence. 

But then again, she also would have been putting Akako in harms’ way and a huge part of her detested that. It would have been selfish and dangerous to bring a maiko with her to a place she knew was going to be a battlefield. As far as she could tell, things went the way they should have. Perhaps, Akako was some place safe and warm and enjoying her freedom, like everyone should have been able to do.

“It’s better this way,” she insisted to the night air.

Shego sat there for a moment and then decided she needed to get some sleep, in case the Shogun’s forces caught up with them faster than she expected. She closed her door and laid down on her futon. She preferred a comfortable place to rest than leaning against the wall, like some warriors might do.

She remained alert, even though she was supposed to be asleep. She could hear movement going on outside of her room and she sighed. She could only wonder what she would have to put up with now. She just assumed it was going to be annoying.

“Why me?” Shego mumbled as her room was invaded by a bunch of men.

The men went straight at her since she was in the bed. She was about to show them that just because she was lying down did not mean she was an easy win. As soon as they were close enough for her to strike, she went at them with a fury they did not expect.

She did not need to ignite her hands for them. She took down the group of men with ease, hardly breaking a sweat. She drew blood with each blow. Her fingernails were like claws and she used them like a wildcat to scratch and tear whatever she could, but she also used them to grab into flesh, like a fishhook.

The men had to contend with her harsh kicks as well, even though she did not use many. Her style was more about hand movement, favoring her powers and her claws. She took the six fellows down without being touched. And then she turned her attention to her door.

“What’s all the noise? Do you have her yet?” Junior asked as he poked his head into the room and was grabbed around his thick neck.

“What the hell were you just planning?” Shego demanded while putting her bloody finger to his throat for him to get the idea that she had no problem putting her fingers through his flesh as she had just done his six men.

“What? I planned nothing!” he insisted while trying to pull away from her, but she had a good hold on him.

“Tell me now or I’ll just slit your throat to make sure I don’t have to worry about this anymore.”

“Nothing! I just planned to have you beaten up,” he lied. He had something more sinister in store for her, but he had not counted on her being able to drop all of his men.

“Listen, snot-for-brains, we’re about to get attacked by the Shogun, so you shouldn’t be wasting perfectly good men on me when we could be using them to save your miserable hide,” Shego snarled as she shoved him away from her. She sucked her teeth. “Damned fool. I should’ve left you to die.”

Junior cowered for a bit and then raced off down the hall. He was now convinced she was a demon. He had to tell his father about everything that happened and how Shego had to be the wickedest of all spirits. His father nodded through the story, but explained that they needed her for the moment. Once they were victorious in battle against the Shogun, he figured he would take care of Shego.

“You promise, Otousan (Father)?” Junior begged.

“Of course, my son. As the future ruler of this country, we need to make sure everyone understands you are to be respected at all times,” Senior vowed. Junior smiled.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kim stared into the city built in the shadow of Senior’s castle from a hilltop and sighed. She knew she would not make it in time, but now it was pretty much confirmed. She was willing to bet they were in the castle, but she would ask around to make sure and then she would send word back to Betty.

She looked around and asked some questions. As far as people were willing to say, their great daimyo returned to his castle. That was about all they knew, almost everyone claimed. She really did not need more than that.

She wished she could find out if Yojimbo-san was in the castle, too, but she doubted anyone would know. She asked a few people if a slender, green-skinned fellow had arrived with the lord, but no one knew. They told her the daimyo had come in at night and they were not sure who was with him.

The redhead sighed because of the lack of information regarding Yojimbo-san, but chose not to despair. She wrote a quick note to Betty confirming the Seniors were at the castle. She then reached into her obi (belt/sash), where she stashed a small whistle. She blew the whistle and tossed the message into the air. A bird soared by and snatched the message.

“Well, since my work here’s done, might as well look around,” Kim decided. The bird she had summoned with the whistle would take her message right to Betty and since her job was just to track the criminals, she was finished. She would wait for Ron and Yori and see if they wanted to stick around for whatever Director-sama planned.

Ron and Yori showed up much later that day. Kim found them in a restaurant and was not surprised Ron was gorging himself. He was probably trying every dish the place served and Rufus was in the thick with him. Kim sat down with the couple and did like Yori, namely just watched Ron go.

“Ron should do a travel log and just talk about every restaurant in every city he’s ever been in,” Kim commented. 

“That would be a long book,” Yori remarked with a smile.

“He could do more than one,” the redhead offered.

Ron did not pay the two women any mind. He focused on his food and made sure Rufus did not steal any of his grub. Rufus had his own, after all. Ron loved it when they found great restaurants. It made leaving home worth it, especially when Yori was with him.

“So, you didn’t catch them, Kim-chan?” Yori asked the obvious. 

“No, they made it to the castle already,” Kim answered the obvious.

“Did you send word to Director-sama?” the ninja inquired. 

“Yeah, I did.”

“So, what now?” 

“Well, I was going to leave that up to you two. You want to head home or just wait for word from Director-sama?” Kim asked.

Ron mumbled his answer, which the girls guessed translated into, “Let’s go home.” 

“She might need us,” Yori said. 

“She might,” Kim agreed. She was not opposed to sticking around, even though she would like to go home. She figured if she stayed around the city, she could find out if Yojimbo-san was with the Seniors. The question ate away at her and an answer might ease her mind, and settle her stomach, which had butterflies building ever since she entered the city. But, she knew only one answer would quell the anxious feeling bothering her system.

“Let’s stay for a while. Besides, a battle would be fun,” Yori smiled.

Kim shrugged. They could use some combat after all they had to put up with in the past couple of months. Ron groaned; why did he have to hang around two women who loved fighting? Now he was going to have to stay behind, too, and possibly help out Betty. _Ah_ _well_ , at least there was good food around and he was with his two favorite ladies, he consoled himself. He went back to eating while the ladies continued watching.

After Ron ate all the he could, they went in search of a place to stay. It was not a long or hard search. They got a room at a decent inn and camped out there.

-*-(New day)-*- 

Kim, Ron, and Yori met up with Betty on the outskirts of the city. Betty had the area surrounded in case the Seniors and other fugitives tried to flee into the city. She planned to take the castle from the back, which was open land instead of possibly killing a bunch of people in the city by attacking the front of the castle.

“So, you three stuck around?” Betty inquired. She could not believe it. From the way Kim and Yori had acted before, she was almost certain they would flee the scene like flustered birds the moment the job was complete.

“Thought you might need us,” Kim replied with a shrug.

“I could always use more warriors. You want to help, go grab a bow and some arrows. I’m going to give them a chance to surrender, but it’s likely that we’re going to have to force them out,” Betty said. 

Kim and her friends did not argue. They walked off while Betty sent her message into the fortified castle. The message made its way to Senior, who was ready for the battle. Senior might have gone and surrendered because he would not have the men to fight against the forces outside of his home, but the men he had with him in Edo had made their way to the castle, so he was now in for the long haul.

“Make them suffer,” Senior ordered his forces. They would fight and he was almost certain, he would be victorious.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Let the battle begin.

-8-8-8-8-

1: haori: a short jacket worn over a kimono.

Anata: darling. It’s used by a woman who is addressing her husband or boyfriend.

Ojousan: young woman. It’s usually a polite, formal way to address a young lady.


	11. Plant a Field of Corpses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> A/N: before I forget to tell you guys, go [here](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077736/Honor-Bound-art) to see great pictures based on this story. 

11: Plant a Field of Corpses

Shego looked out into the battle from a window in the castle tower. The Shogun’s forces showered the castle with arrows, which was expected. Senior had a few surprises for them and was just waiting for a good moment to hit them with it. She figured things would be interesting when he pulled out the surprise, but for the moment things were boring. 

She actually hoped the Shogun’s men would conquer the moat around the castle and then to break through the wall. She wanted something to do, but she was not about to go outside of the walls for the sake of a fight. She was daring, not suicidal. She yawned while watching the field, wondering if someone was going to get the idea to set an arrow on fire before shooting it at the castle. _But, that was probably too good an idea for someone to think of that on his own_ , she told herself. 

“No dog of the Shogun is capable of thinking on their own,” she reminded herself. The idea still pissed her off.

But, people started lighting up their arrows and she was very interested. Apparently, someone had grown a brain out there. She wondered what Senior would do now. She decided to get a closer look and go see.

She went to the main room, where the Seniors were with Drakken. The Seniors did not even bother to look in Shego’s direction, which was what she wanted. She was quite sick of them, having been stuck in a confined, though large area with them for a few days. Between Junior’s stupidity and his father’s devotion to him, she was ready to snap both of their necks to put them out of _her_ misery, as well as their own. They were no fans of hers either, having grown silently hateful of her superior attitude and her ill habit of ordering them around as if she was the highest ranked among them.

“Shego, you showed up at the perfect time. They’re about to show these shogunate dogs my favorite weapon,” Drakken stated, holding his hands in tight fists like a gleeful child.

“Oh, sounds promising,” Shego said honestly. 

She was curious as to what Drakken’s favorite weapon was. He invented some dangerous and crazy things, so she wanted to see what he had come up with and if those idiot samurais working for Senior used the weapons right. So, she went and parked herself by a window that overlooked the battlefield.

Shego made it to the window just in time to see rockets being fired. She figured they were like firecrackers, but when they hit, she saw that they were much stronger than fireworks. They exploded when they impacted a row of the Shogun’s samurai.

“Whoa,” Shego muttered. That was… unexpectedly destructive.

“Whoa indeed! I’m brilliant!” Drakken declared with a crackle, clapping his hands together. 

-8-8-8-8-

“What the hell!” Betty hollered as parts of her forces were hit by the rockets and blown away. She was even thrown back by the power from the explosion.

“Yori, you all right?” Ron called to his wife. They had flung apart when a rocket exploded too close to them. He landed on his chest, but did not even care about that. As soon as he could lift his head, he searched for his wife. 

“I’m fine, anata,” she replied with cough. She landed on her back a few feet from her husband.

“Kim?” Ron called.

“I’m fine,” Kim replied. She was lying on her side with blood coming down her face. She had been closer to the explosion than her friends, so she was now cut on her head, her eyebrow was open, and her nose was bleeding. She knew that could have been much worse than it was, though.

“What in the world was that?” Ron asked as he sat up. Rufus crawled out of his sleeve. “You okay, buddy?” he asked, receiving a nod from the rodent.

“Looked like rockets,” Yori answered while sitting up, too.

“Really? Looked like dirt from my perspective,” Kim remarked as she followed her friends’ lead. She wiped her face to make sure none of her blood dripped into her eyes.

“What are we going to do now?” Yori asked.

“Kim could always use her fox magic to help us win this fight,” Ron teased his best friend.

“Sure, right after you use your mystic monkey magic,” the redhead countered.

“Well, I got nothing,” Ron replied with a shrug.

“Now, how about we try something realistic and that might work,” Kim suggested.

“You got something in mind?” the blond warrior asked.

“Of course,” Kim replied.

Kim pulled out a small slip of paper and quickly jotted a message on it. She then pulled out her little whistle and blew it. She flung the rolled up note into the air and a bird flew by, snatching it up. She turned to Ron.

“Now, what?” the blue-eyed male asked with a furrowed brow. 

“Now, we wait and try to get this madness under control,” the olive-eyed warrior answered.

“Wait for what?” Ron wondered out loud.

Kim did not answer and they had to dive out of the way of another rocket. Betty ordered her people to take cover in some nearby trees, which they rapidly obeyed as rockets continued to rain down on the field from the stronghold. While they regrouped in the cluster of trees around the back of the castle, Kim decided to have her wounds looked at.

“Who would have thought they had such an arsenal,” Yori commented as she worked on Kim’s cuts since she was there.

“And to think, we could’ve gone home,” Ron pointed out. 

“Well, we’re here now. We need to make the most of it,” Kim argued. 

“You mean like go home?” Ron inquired. 

“We’re not going home. I’ve got a plan… or sorts,” Kim stated, which Betty overheard. 

“You have a plan, Kim-dono?” Betty inquired.

“It’s not really a plan. I need to wait for someone first. So, if you’re going to do anything, do it,” Kim answered. 

“I don’t have anything yet. I didn’t expect them to have rockets,” the one-eyed warrior admitted.

Betty thought they would have guns because of the crates of contraband she had taken from the Seniors’ manor in Edo. She did not know those other things were exploding rockets. What other deadly weapons did those fugitives have at their disposal? She was not prepared for this. She could not even imagine that they would have such fantastic arms. 

Betty went to sit down and reconsider what she was going to do. She went over to Barkin Steve to see if he had any insight on what they should do. She respected his thoughts because he had been in many battles before. So, maybe they would be able to come up with a strategy to take the castle.

“We can’t cross the moat,” Barkin pointed out, which limited the attacks they could use on the fortress. 

“Apparently the fire-tipped arrows didn’t have any affect on them,” Betty commented. She guessed they were able to put out any fires that the arrows might have started since there were no signs of a blaze, and she was right. The fact that the fires had easily and swiftly been put out told her that they had water to spare, so they might be ready to be there for the long haul and she really did not have time for such a thing.

If she took too long with the retrieving the traitors, her rivals, like her brother, surely would question her competency. They had already caused her troubles just because she was a woman. And even though she had been loyal to the Shogun and worked extremely hard for him, he would listen to those people and he would remove her from her post. She knew he considered it in the past, but every time someone brought up her gender or other frivolous, she did something incredible to prove she was the right person for the job. 

She could not allow anything to make the Shogun think she was less than perfect. People would talk worse about her and he would release her no matter what she did. She would be a disgrace to her family. Her father, who had always shown such pride in her, would probably even shun her. She would not be able to live with that.

“We might have to wait for them to just come out,” Barkin stated. 

“We don’t have time for that. If we wait too long, I’ll have to go back to Edo and send in someone else and that’s just not good,” Betty replied. She could not accept leaving with a stalemate.

“Thinking about your job now?” he inquired. It was very unlike their leader to worry about herself in such hard times. 

“It’s all I have left,” she answered him rather honestly, which was something she often did and he respected that.

He nodded. “I know. Same here. I just don’t see how we’re going to get in there. At least, not right now. Only one wave of those rockets and we scattered like rats when a cat shows up,” he pointed out. They had also fallen like rats when a cat showed up, he quietly noted since they had left some dead and dying out in the open field. 

“We’ll have to wait for dark and then scout around,” she said. 

“That’s a good idea,” he agreed.

They needed to find out more about the enemy and discover something about the building as well as the people inside without having to worry about them aiming exploding rockets into the ranks. For the moment, they would have to stand down from the battle.

-8-8-8-8-

“Did you see that?” Drakken cackled while pointing out of the window into the battlefield, which was devoid of human life for the most part. Some curious birds started to land into the charred meadow, though.

“That was good,” Shego commented with a nod as she looked down at the destruction Drakken’s weapons caused. It would have been a sickening sight if she had not been a veteran of many battles. Bodies were blown open thanks to his rockets and parts were littering the field like so many fallen leaves. 

“Good? That was great!” the blue inventor shouted with a grin. He jumped in the air with joy, clicking his heels together with pride. “And we didn’t even get the chance to bring out the big weapons!”

“Calm down, Drak. It’s not that impressive,” Shego said, if only to burst his bubble for the sake of having nothing else to do. 

“What? That was brilliant!” Drakken defended himself while turning to face his bodyguard. He pointed out the window with gusto as he spoke.

“Ah, it was all right,” Shego said, getting a kick out of just discouraging him. He was the only person she liked being verbally malicious to for no reason at all. Probably because if he was in the right frame of mind, he would defend himself to her and she found that entertaining.

“Whatever,” Drakken scoffed and then he turned his attention to the Seniors. “You two understand my genius, don’t you? You know that was brilliant, right?” He obviously needed his ego stroked.

“It was something,” the elder Senior agreed. He was not sure how to describe what he had just witnessed. He probably would have called it barbaric if it was not assisting his cause.

“It did make them run like the cowards they are,” Junior pointed out with a smirk. 

“Yeah, and you know a lot about cowards, right?” Shego remarked, speaking to the sapphire-eyed young man. She even smirked at him like the wicked demon he believed she was.

Junior seemed to get that insult, which was something new, and he looked hurt by it. Hurt and upset. _How dare this stupid girl imply I’m a coward_ , he thought heatedly. She was merely basing her statement on an incident he had a hand in that occurred in her room a few days ago and how he ran away like a weeping girl… in her opinion anyway. He felt like he handled the situation properly.

Senior noticed his son’s expression and decided he would have to say something. He had been putting off confronting that irksome devil woman because he was focused on fortifying the castle and preparing to be beset by the Shogun’s men. Now that he saw they were well prepared for any plague of soldiers, he could address the issue of Shego. He could not allow that green-skinned harlot to think she was in charge while in his castle. 

“Now, see here, you need to show my son some respect,” Senior informed Shego in a firm tone. He would start out civil, but planned to tear into her soon.

“I don’t feel like it, so I guess he’s going to have to bear with it. Now, maybe you should worry about the troops outside the castle rather than worry about Junior’s little hurt feelings. He’s a grown ass man, after all,” Shego commented, folding her arms across her chest.

“That’s beside the point. He is my son and I am a lord—” Senior started, but Shego was not about to let him finish that one. 

“Let’s get this straight, so everyone can stop acting so high and mighty around here. All of you are criminals, fucking criminals. You’re nothing more than men who tried to overthrow the Shogun and failed. You’re fugitives with dogs of the Shogun barking at your front door. That’s all you are and when you’re all caught, you’ll be lucky if you’re forced to commit suicide like the honorable men you aren’t,” Shego pointed out.

“We won’t get caught,” Senior stated. 

“You will if you focus on stupid things, like Junior’s hurt feelings. There are bigger thing in all of this. Now, how about focusing on all of the samurais hiding in the woods around here because they’re not going to stay in the woods forever,” she commented.

Senior yielded to that, as much as he loathed doing such a thing, because she had a point. He needed to make sure they were ready for when enemy regrouped. He would see what other goodies he had that Drakken made. He also had to make sure his men knew how to use those weapons. 

Shego walked out of the room and wondered what the samurais outside were going to do now that they had a taste of what Drakken had up his sleeves. Would the warriors try to starve them out? That might take a few months, she figured. She doubted anyone wanted to be in or around the castle for a few months. She knew she did not wish to be there for a few months or she would definitely kill people. How long were they willing to lay siege the castle?

She guessed she would have to see who was in charge. If Director Betty was in charge, she knew the siege would be a short affair. Betty did not have the time or real option for a long siege. People were gunning for her job like it was the only job around, after all. One slip up and she would be unemployed at best and dead at the worst because the Shogun was pliable enough for all sorts of poison to seep into his ear. She hoped it was Betty out there then.

Shego just wanted something to happen she could be a part of. She could not and did not want to be a part of rocket launching war or whatever else Drakken had lined up. She wanted something that was face-to-face and hand-to-hand. Well, with a samurai, probably hand to sword combat. It would still be fine considering the hands that she had.

Until the outside forces breached the walls, she guessed she was just going to be bored or watching what madness Drakken came up with. Well, there were worse options. After all, she could be out there and getting to meet with Drakken’s exploding rockets personally.

He really did top himself with those, she silently noted. They were powerful weapons and certainly better than anything he had come up with in the past. Maybe they would come out of things in tact thanks to the rockets or maybe he would prove to be just as big a failure as he seemed to be and something would go wrong as it always did. She was leaning toward the latter since she knew the man and his “genius.” 

-8-8-8-8-

As the night settled in, Betty sent off a team of ninjas to inspect the castle and see if there was a way for the troops to go inside. The team ran off and Betty hoped things went well. She then looked around for the girl that could do anything since she claimed she had a plan. She was surprised Kim had not volunteered to go in with the team. Will had even been prepared to argue with Kim over it, but Kim was not even trying.

Kim sat with Ron and Yori, who also opted to not even bother volunteering for the attempted infiltration because she would rather be with her husband at the moment. They were all leaning against a tree, actually enjoying snacks. Betty could not believe her eye; they were acting like they were on a campout when they were supposed to be helping out in a serious campaign.

“What the hell are you three doing?” Betty demanded, storming over to the trio.

“Four!” Rufus squeaked indignantly. He hated being forgotten, even if a scolding was coming to the group.

“I don’t care how many of you there are. Just tell me what the hell you think you’re doing,” Betty hissed.

“Eating,” Ron answered while shoving the rest of his food in his mouth because Rufus kept trying to steal his rice ball from him.

“This isn’t a picnic!” Betty shouted in a fury. 

“Yeah, because we hadn’t noticed all the dead bodies and my injuries just disappeared,” Kim remarked sarcastically. Of course, they knew it was not a picnic, but at the moment, there was nothing for them to do and they were hungry.

“Don’t kid around with me, Kim,” Betty growled. 

Kim frowned a little. Usually, she did not care if someone did not add an honorific to her name, but Director-sama was walking a fine line with her. She was not a paid government dog and she would not be spoken to like one.

“Calm down, Director-sama. You’re getting too worked up over something that’s out of your hands for the moment. We can’t do anything right now,” Kim pointed out.

“She’s right, Director-sama,” Yori concurred. 

Betty snarled and was about to order them to put the food away, except she remembered they did not have to do anything she said. Hell, they did not even have to be here right now. She took a deep breath.

“What was your plan anyway, Kim-dono?” Betty inquired while trying to calm down somewhat. There was nothing for them to do, so if they were hungry, they should eat.

“Still not here yet, which is why we’re just sitting here right now,” the redheaded warrior answered.

“Well, whenever you care to share, let me know,” the one-eyed woman stated. She had a feeling Kim had something good in mind, but it was taking a while. She would have to go forward with sending in some ninjas to at least get an idea of what they were up against.

-8-8-8-8-

The team of spies first had to scope out the castle’s exterior and find a way in. Once they found a way in, they were not without other troubles. In fact, their problems had only just begun. The interior of the castle was like a maze, which was how castles were always designed and they had expected that. But, the ninjas still got lost.

“You guys make things too easy,” Shego remarked as she caught up with four of the ninjas as they ran into a dead end.

The team of stealth warriors turned to face the pale woman. They pulled out shuriken and flung the projectiles in her direction. She dodged weapons with ease and ran at the group. She struck like a viper at her opponents, taking two of them before they even realized she was on them. The other two were able to put their hands up, but that was about it. Shego’s hands were just too fast for them. 

When the four were unconscious, Shego decided to be kind about things. She carried them to the nearest exit and left them outside. If they were lucky, one of their comrades would find them and help them. But, now, they were not her problem and she really did not care what happened to them.

Once she was done with those spies, she went to scan the castle to see if there were more. She heard gunfire a few minutes later and that sort of answered her question. She ran to the noise and got to see a pair of Senior’s men admiring their rifles while a shinobi was laid out on the floor. One of the guards shined a lantern on the corpse and they got a good look as to what the firearms could do to a body.

Shego could not believe her eyes when she saw the carnage Drakken’s weapons could cause. How had he modified those guns, she wondered while looking down at the body. The chest of the ninja was blown wide up. It looked like a shot had gone through the ninja’s face and ripped his jaw off his skull. It was beyond gruesome. The guards laughed over it.

Shego tore herself away from the scene. It was not that she was so disgusted or disturbed by the sight, but she was bored with it for the most part. If the ninja was already dead, it left her with nothing to do. She wanted someone to fight and she wanted the battle to last for more than five seconds. What was the point in being under siege if she did not have anything to do? It would seem Drakken managed to get on her nerves by actually doing something right for once.

Shego strolled around the castle, but did not find anyone to engage. There were a few spies wandering the castle, trying to gather intelligence, but the guards caught them before she could get to them. The guards wasted no time using their rifles. The ninjas who ran into the guards were killed by gunfire, even if they managed to dodge the first shot, either another guard would come out of nowhere and fire his gun or they would learn the hard way that Drakken had created rifles that were easy and quick to reload.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of guards lost to shots because of their overzealous use of the powerful weapons. They did not have men to spare like that, but then again, Shego could not find it in her to feel anything over people lost to their own stupidity. It did reinforce the fact that she was literally surrounded by idiots. 

Shego decided to go to sleep since there was nothing she could do. She was bored, but she expected that. She was on the defensive end of a siege, after all. If she had something to do, they would be in trouble.

“Something to do would still be nice,” she grumbled. 

As she lay down, her mind drifted to Akako, as it now had a habit of doing. Would she ever see the redhead again? Would they ever sit and share meaningful discourse again? Would she ever be able to hear the divine songs that it seemed only Akako could pluck from the shamisen?

But more important than any of that, was Akako all right? Was she free still or had she been returned to her cage to play her song for others? The answers to these questions would set her mind at ease and open up the possibilities for the others. 

-8-8-8-8-

Betty was worried when her agents did not return as the night turned into morning. The sun started peeking out over the hills and Betty decided to go search for the teams on her own. She found four of them, lying unconscious in the forest’s beginning near the castle. She called for help as she began to inspect the crew to make sure they were still alive. 

The four ninja were alive, but they were in horrid shape. They regained consciousness almost around noon. They could not even remember what happened to them last night to help Betty know what they were up against. They could not remember how they even got into the castle.

Betty was not sure what to think from such sparse news. What was going on in that castle? Had her other agents been killed and the four that made it out just lucky? If that was the case, how did those four make it out? They did not seem like they were in the best shape to escape from anywhere, so how did they get out? 

She turned her eye to the castle. “What the hell happened in there last night?”

Had her four agents just been dumped out there as some kind of taunt or warning? Did they want her to see what they could do to anyone that entered the castle’s walls? Perhaps they thought it would discourage her from trying anything further. If that was the case, they did not know her very well.

“What now?” Barkin asked the leader.

“I don’t know. What do we have left?” Betty wondered aloud, looking around.

“We’ve got whatever those three have up their sleeves,” Barkin commented while motioning toward Kim and her crew, who were now having lunch. “If they actually have anything.” He scowled.

“They’re not saying anything, but Kim wouldn’t lie. I think their idea might take a while, so we need to think of something while they’re doing whatever,” the one-eyed woman replied. 

“You can send in a specialized team,” he stated.

“I don’t want to send anyone else in there without knowing what they’re up against. I mean, if I just keep throwing ninjas at them and they kill them, then that’s just a waste of men on my part. It also helps them because they have less people to deal with when we finally do get in there. We need more information,” Betty said.

“Better still, why not send word back that we need the contraband we took from the Seniors’ home in Edo?” Barkin suggested.

Betty thought about it. That would cause all kinds of havoc, but it would even things out. She supposed it was not a bad option. She had to take those traitors down no matter what, so she might as well do that. So, she sent a messenger back to Edo to tell others to send those weapons. She would like to see what the Seniors would do when they were faced with the same weapons that they were using on her people. 

-*-(New day)-*-

“Wade-kun, it’s about time that you showed up,” Kim commented as Wade strolled over to the group.

He was a sight for sore eyes. Kim was confident he would be able to help them fight against exploding rockets. They had tried to barge the castle with fire-tipped arrows again, but they did not even get any smoke from that effort. During the day, they were also introduced to Drakken’s modified guns being fired over the castle’s walls. It looked bleak on their end, especially if the Seniors had enough stockpile to go on for months.

“Yeah, we needed your help, like, yesterday,” Ron remarked with a good-natured grin. He grabbed Wade and pulled him into a “bro-hug.”

Wade looked around. He knew something was up from the blackened ground and also the fact that Kim and Betty were in the safety of the woods. He heard warriors talking of starving the enemy out when he walked through the camp. 

“Sorry about taking so long to get, Kim-san, but it took a while to come up with the stuff that you need,” Wade answered as he patted a huge cart behind him. 

“Wade, it’s good to see you,” Ron stated with a nod. He was certain they had this in the bag now.

“Good to see you, too. Hey, Yori-san,” Wade greeted the couple. 

“Kon’nichiwa (hello). So, you’re here to help?” Yori guessed.

“That’s what I usually come around for. This was no easy find,” Wade said, going into his sleeve. He pulled out a scroll and waved it in Kim’s face.

Laughing, Kim gave him a bright smile. “But, I knew you would find it.” 

“Just because it’s not easy doesn’t mean I can’t make it happen. I mean, you’re not the only one who could do anything,” he remarked with a smile of his own.

“What’s going on over here?” Betty inquired as she noticed Wade. She knew Kim got a lot of information from Wade, who seemed to be able to get just about anything as long as he was given about an hour to do it. It amazed Betty at how efficient the small group could be.

“Nothing yet, Director-sama, but there will be in a moment,” Wade answered, still smiling. He was obviously proud of his work; whatever that work was, Betty thought. 

“What are you going to do?” Betty asked Kim, knowing the ringleader of the whole crew was the redheaded warrior.

“We’re going to get the drop on Senior-sama with this,” Kim replied and she waved the scroll in Betty’s face. 

Betty’s face scrunched up as she arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Blue prints to the castle,” Wade answered while jabbing his thumb into the direction of the castle. 

“How did you get those?” Betty asked, almost shouting. _How the hell do these kids do half the things they do?_

“You just have to know where to look,” the young genius answered with a shrug. 

“So, what is that you’re planning? I hope you’re not going to go in there with just this,” Betty pointed out. Sure, the last set of ninjas she had sent in had not had a map, but they still had not come out. She knew they were dead and that was that. She did not want that to happen to Kim’s group.

“Wade-kun brought more than map,” Kim said. 

“But, that doesn’t tell me what you’re planning,” Betty pointed out.

“I figured I’d show you and we’d all go in. This should make it easier since we won’t be running around in the castle with no idea where to go,” Kim explained. 

“What about the guns?” Betty inquired.

“Wade-kun has the answer to all of that,” Kim replied. 

“Wade,” Betty said and she turned her attention to the little inventor boy.

Wade smiled and motioned behind him, where he had a cart full of things. Betty wondered just what it was that Wade had to combat against those guns and rockets and everything. What was the plan?

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the plan and taking the fight inside, figuratively and literally since there will be a bit of infighting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, go [here](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077736/Honor-Bound-art) to see great pictures based on this story. 


	12. Stand Up and Then Standoff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.
> 
> A/N: So, once more, in case you missed out the first time — [art for this story](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077736/Honor-Bound-art).

12: Stand Up and Then Standoff

Shego stared outside a window with a dull expression in her emerald eyes and wondered why the Shogun’s forces were not regrouping for their daily, useless assaults on the castle, as they had been doing for well over a week now. Had they given up finally? Had they realized they were no match for Drakken’s guns and rockets? She thought that was a little funny.

It was funny in an ironic sort of way if their enemies had given up. They were running out of weapons after repealing the Shogun’s troops so many times. They did not have an endless supply, after all, and the castle did not have the resources Drakken required to make more or anything like that. It did not help matters that some of the warriors wielding the weapons went overboard and wasted ammunition.

 _Ah well_ , she thought. It had to end sometime. She did not mind that things were ending, but she would like to get some fighting in on a personal level. She doubted the Shogun’s forces had given up entirely, but she wondered what they were going to do since they could not make it passed the weapons guarding the castle and they could not set the castle on fire like they kept trying to do. 

Shego hoped they were not going to attempt to starve them out of the castle. They had food enough for months and that was even without rationing things. She doubted they would be able to ration things anyway. Drakken and Junior would more than likely manage to screw that up somehow.

“I’m literally surrounded by idiots,” she complained for what felt like the millionth time. It felt like it was the story of her life.

She left the window with an almost weary turn and decided to go see what the Seniors and Drakken were up to. She was willing to bet they were gloating prematurely because the Shogun’s men were not lined up outside of the castle for the first time since the siege began. She was not too off when she entered the room to find them laughing and making fun of the soldiers who were no longer pestering them. 

She rolled her eyes to the spectacle. She could not help wondering if the fellows could somehow manage to get more annoying than they already were. _I hope not_. She might surrender if they did.

“Did you see the way they ran off yesterday?” Drakken asked the Seniors.

The Seniors only laughed, showing they had seen the samurais run off like a group of insects when someone swatted at them. They had inflected quite a few casualties yesterday. The rockets and guns were so effective that their enemies were worried about even going to collect their dead or wounded because the guards in the castle were not below firing at them when they were trying to take corpses and injured men off the battlefield. But, that did not stop some people from trying.

Of course, they thought it was funny when their enemies tried to pull the dead or wounded off of the battlefield and got sniped for their troubles. It was a joke to them. Shego was not of like mind in that and their laughing about it was a bit stomach turning for her.

She held the belief that one should respect a formidable opponent and remember they were people too, even if they were the enemy. They had a right to collect their deceased and offer them a proper sent off rather than being murdered in cold-blood while trying to do right by their fallen comrades and were not even looking to fight at the time. This was the most barbaric thing she had ever been a party to.

The pale woman considered her clowns were not as funny when they were not the underdogs. They were just cruel men with no sense of honor. She had expected more from the elder Senior, but then as she watched, she noticed he was not laughing much. He chuckled occasionally, but the loud sounds came from Drakken and Junior.

As she watched a little longer, she noted Senior stared off every now and then. The elder Senior seemed to notice the gravity of the situation and his pensive expression showed it. He seemed to be in deep thought with an intense look in his eyes while he eyed the floor.

“You know they’re not lined up outside today, right, ojiisan?” Shego asked, speaking to Senior. They might not be getting along, but she figured she would talk to the one person who understood how serious everything was.

“You suspect they’re plotting something?” the old man inquired. He still planned horrible, terrible things for Shego when everything was over, but for the moment, he respected her attention to their problem and her offerings to solve their troubles.

“They’re not plotting anything. They’re scared of my power!” Drakken declared and he began cackling. Once his irksome bolstering amused Shego, but now, it grated on her nerves.

“They wouldn’t dare approach us now. They know we’ll obliterate them,” Junior chimed in with a laugh of his own.

“They’re not going to give up so easily, especially if a certain person is in charge. They’re going to stop coming at us in a way we expect and just come in a way that we don’t see coming,” Shego stated while fighting back a tired sigh. She could not believe these two thought that things would end so easily.

“No matter how they come at us, my weapons will stop them dead in their tracks!” Drakken argued with determination in his dark eyes.

“Do you think you can guess what they’re thinking of?” Senior inquired, speaking to Shego.

He asked Shego because she was the one who figured when the enemy would send in ninjas, which had happened a few times since the siege began. She had been right on those occasions and saved them by making sure there were enough guards on patrol to handle the assassins with little problem. It seemed safe to trust her on things when it came to the battle, but when it was all over, things would be different. Maybe he would force her to be his son’s slave, he considered. Junior would like that.

“I really don’t know what else they might be doing, unless they sent word to Edo that they were getting their asses kicked,” Shego said.

“And what would that gain them?” Senior asked.

“They did confiscate a lot of stuff when they arrested you lot, didn’t they?” she pointed out.

“You think they sent word for the weapons they took?” he guessed.

“Hey, fight fire with fire,” she answered with a bit of a shrug. She figured if she was in the outside army’s place, she would send word for those weapons to try to balance the scale.

“They can’t do that. They can’t just use my weapons. They don’t even know how!” Drakken objected, throwing his hands up.

“What’s to know? I point the hollowed out end at my enemy, I pull a trigger, I blow the enemy up, end of the tutorial,” Shego remarked. She could train a monkey to use those weapons and probably cause the same amount of carnage as the guards at the Seniors’ castle. She wondered where they found such lowlifes who got such a kick out of taking a human life in such a grotesque manner. Fighting was one thing, even killing, which she was not a fan of actually, was one thing, but the guards seemed to enjoy the slaughter much too much in her opinion. This was not about soldiers or proper war. These men were psychotic.

“It’s not so simple,” the blue inventor argued.

“How is not so simple? You didn’t even make it so a person would have to know how to load the stupid gun. A baby could operate those things,” she stated.

Shego supposed it was genius for Drakken to make such easy to use weapons, but there was obviously a downside to it all. He did not seem to think of that when he was improving the gun or the rockets. The only thing on his mind was causing enough destruction to take over his half of the empire. Well, she figured he had just learned his lesson in planning things out better. Mentally, she scoffed. _Him, learn? Yeah, right_.

“Well, I had to make them easy to use or we’d have had to waste time training an army, too, and we obviously didn’t have time for that,” Drakken pointed out to win the argument as far as he was concerned.

“I didn’t say we did. I’m just saying since your guns are so easy to use, it’s very plausible that they sent word back to Edo to have them shipped here. We should’ve had spies within their ranks to prevent this from happening or to at least alert us if it did happen,” Shego said. Of course, if Director Betty were in charge, she would have spotted a spy within seconds.

“It’s hard to get spies within those ranks,” Senior replied. He wished he could get men who were as loyal as the ones that worked so closely to the Shogun.

“I know what you mean, but it would’ve made this easier. If they did send back for those weapons, we might be in trouble, especially if they have those exploding rockets. They could easily destroy the walls or even the castle, especially if they took enough of them,” the pale warrior commented. They might be in a bit of a spot, she thought.

“This is true. We have to figure out what they’re doing and how to counter them,” Senior said. “Drakken, do you have anything for that?”

“Something to stop my own weapons?” Drakken looked aghast, as if he thought the elder gentleman was a fool for even suggesting something like that. From the look on his face, it was shocking he did not come right out and call the daimyo stupid.

“Yeah, it would be good to have a defense just as strong as your offense, after all,” Shego pointed out.

“Why would I make something to stop the weapons? The Shogun could’ve gotten his hands on that and then we’d have been finished,” the inventor retorted, having the nerve to scoff and roll his eyes. He once again felt as if he had won the argument with that statement.

He thought it was utterly ridiculous for them to even suggest he should have made something that could have halted his own weapons. How was he supposed to know it was possible for someone to maybe use the firearms against them? Something like that happening seemed completely outrageous to his brain, just like the idea of them being caught.

Shego and Senior looked at the inventor as if he had two heads. Senior could not believe what he was hearing, but Shego was a little used to it. Still, it hurt her head. They then looked at each other and seemed to silently agree they were the only two competent ones there. Apparently, they would have to depend on each other for plans and counterattacks. Now, they would have to figure out what their enemies were up to and what they were going to do about it.

In the back of his mind, Senior decided he was not going to split the empire with Drakken anymore. Someone so bizarre and scatterbrained did not need to rule over people, in his opinion. Besides, it would be so easy to take the other half from Drakken and why should he settle for a half when he could have the whole country? So, now he had to do something about Drakken and his pushy, wench of a bodyguard, after he did something about the Shogun anyway. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Director-sama, why not just let us go in tonight?” Kim inquired.

She asked because she and her team were prepared to go into the castle that night, but it seemed like the one-eyed woman was not ready to allow them to do their thing. They had a map of the area, as well as the weapons to combat against the guards, especially at night. But, Betty had other ideas now that a bunch of crates had finally arrived. Kim did not know what was in the boxes, but she was willing to bet it spelled bad news.

“You don’t need to do something that risky now. We should be able to take down the wall and storm the place,” Betty replied while patting one of the crates. She was pleased that the boxes had arrived so rapidly because she would rather not do something incredibly risky like the olive-eyed samurai desired to do.

“But, that could cost a lot of lives on both sides,” Kim pointed out.

“But, if you go in there, there’s a huge chance of you not coming back out,” Betty countered. No matter what, the options they had would involve risk and death, but she would rather they fight against their opponents on a level playing field than Kim going in with her friends and getting lost and killed like the others before them who breached the castle walls.

“There’s a chance of us not making it out of this big battle you have planned, too. You should let us try this before doing something so deadly,” the younger warrior argued. The one-eyed leader did not get a chance to respond as her nephew invaded the debate.

“Kim-chan, you shouldn’t debate with our leader,” Will stated as he walked over. His tone was as naughty and mocking, as if he thought he were king of the world and Kim was not even fit to feed pigs.

Kim turned to Will and everyone could have sworn that off in the distance they heard two cats yowl at each other as the pair’s eyes met. Kim and Will frowned at each other and now the question was if they would get into an argument or just skip that and go right to a fistfight. It was more likely that they would go right to the fistfight because Will had called her “Kim-chan.” He used the term “chan” whenever he desired to make it seem like she was inferior to even the lowest insects.

“Why don’t you back off and let us do what we’re good at?” Kim said to Will with a lot of attitude and a disgusted snarl tugging one side of her lip upward because of his presence alone.

“You are good at doing foolish things, but I can’t let you do something like this,” he replied, faking holding some affection for his future bride. He actually enjoyed just having an excuse to call her foolish and possibly have his aunt agree since she was battling with the redheaded teen over agendas.

“Foolish? I’ve completed more missions this year than you have your entire career with much higher success rate,” she informed him in a frustrated tone. Why did have he have to be such a bigheaded, pompous jerk of an ass? Sometimes, she just wished she could pop his big, airhead.

“You don’t even have missions. You’re not a part of this group,” he stated calmly, motioning around to the army. He felt like he had the high ground in their fight for once. He could afford to be cool until she proved to be a hot-blooded, temperamental wench he needed to harshly put in her place.

“I don’t have to be a part of the group to complete missions and I have done my part more so than anyone else out here, okay? You don’t even know what I’ve been through for this. So, why don’t you back off and leave us to get your ass out of trouble once more?” Kim huffed.

That might have insulted some of the other warriors, but they knew Will brought out the very worst in Kim. She was generally a nice, polite young woman who would never downgrade or diminish anyone’s role in anything, but once Will got her started, she had to try to prove him wrong as quickly and as severely as possible more often than not. So, she sometimes said things she did not think out or did not mean. Will just egged on her more by denigrating her with his words, tone, and even his stance.

To the trained eye, they could all see Will tried to belittle Kim with the way he stood before her. He was always stood perfectly straight, shoulders squared, so he towered over her and looked like he was superior. It gave him a chance to look down his nose at her.

She could return it with her own stance. She always spoke with her chin inclined, even though she was not looking up at her. It just gave her a superior, almost haughty look. A half-smirk almost always adorned her lips.

Beyond that, they always stood so tense and taut around each other, winding up a great deal of potential energy that they almost always put into motion. Either the energy turned kinetic by the pair going verbally back and forth, but also when they finally physically went against each other because they could not bend for each other in anyway.

“That’s not very ladylike,” Will commented, sounding even more arrogant now because he had a chance to attack her on two different fronts, her pretense as a warrior and her failure to act like the noblewoman she was.

“Who cares if it’s ladylike or not? We could go in there and end this without a whole bunch of people dying. Isn’t that a better solution than having to kill a bunch of people and destroy a whole castle?” Kim pointed out.

“You want to do something unrealistic,” the ebony-eyed spy stated soundly and condescendingly.

“You don’t even know what I have in mind!” the redhead snarled while making tight fists. He was such a self-centered egotistic always looking to demean her that he was judging her plan without even knowing a detail about the scheme. He was always looking to down her and it led him to do such idiotic things in her opinion, like protest an idea he knew nothing about.

“I know it’s foolhardy and going to get you killed more than likely. Just leave these to the people who know how to use their swords,” he informed her while turning his nose up at her and looking down at her through cold, onyx eyes.

“You want to see me use this sword? I’ll jab it right up your big nose,” Kim declared, which earned her some low chuckles from a lot of people.

“You need to just go home,” Will growled, losing his cool like ice in the summer because she had settled on coming at him with such a petty insult and people were actually laughing at him because of it.

“Make me go back home,” she ordered him.

“You don’t think I will?” he inquired while putting his hand on his charcoal-colored katana handle. He had no problem drawing on her either. She needed to know her place, in his opinion. He would show her how a real warrior wielded a sword.

“Do you want to do that right here and now? Knowing you’ve never defeated me once,” she demanded. Her hand on was now positioned her own sword; the katana she actually used and had no qualms with using it against him. Maybe if she defeated him once again, he would learn to respect her, she figured. Not that it had mattered in the past.

“You two, this is not the time or place,” Betty told the pair as she stepped between them. She had stopped a sword fight just in time… once again. She thought it was such a shame that such talented adults were reduced to acting like toddlers when they got around each other.

“He started it,” Kim huffed, taking her hand away from her blade. 

“You started it!” Will argued.

“You started it!” Kim hollered at him. 

Most of the people around had seen the pair at each other’s throats on more than one occasion, so they were not too surprised by their actions. They would even look forward to the fight if only they were not in the middle of a failing siege. They would even take bets on the outcome if it was another time because the pair’s battles were almost epic in nature all of the time, usually wagering on how long it would last or a finishing move. It was like watching a show.

The only thing was that Kim always won. This only left Will more bitter and hostile toward her. The men around could understand why Will was always so upset with Kim; after all, no man wanted to be defeated in combat time and time again by his fiancée.

“How are they going to survive each other for the rest of their lives?” Wade wondered out loud, referring to Kim and Will, who seemed to be trying to will each other to die with their glares at each other.

“One of them is going to have a very short life more than likely,” Ron remarked. He believed Will was going to live about a week or so after marrying Kim, maybe less than that if they tried to consummate the marriage.

“I couldn’t imagine having to sleep with one eye open around you,” Yori said to her husband. She figured Will and Kim would probably have to figure out how to sleep with both eyes open around each other, even though they only seemed to utterly despise each other when they started talking.

“Sleep? I doubt they’ll get around to doing that with all of the arguing they’ll end up doing,” Ron commented.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Betty said to her nephew and Kim, still standing between them to make sure they did not start a physical fight. She turned her attention to the redhead. “Look, I can’t let you just go in there and possibly die, Kim-dono. You know that.” 

“Director-sama, you know ‘can’t’ isn’t in Kim’s vocabulary,” Wade pointed out with a bit of a smirk.

“Really. I mean, she’s probably already planning to go in there, dragging us along when you’re not looking,” Ron added as if it was no big deal. It really was no big deal to him because he knew Kim was going to go into the castle and he was going to follow her and Yori was going to follow him. That was just a formula they had. It helped them all stay alive. 

Betty sighed because they had a point. No matter what she told Kim, the younger warrior was going to do what she wanted to do and that meant she would go ahead with her own plan with or without permission. Kim would also more than likely take her team in there, so she might as well concede for the moment. It was the smart thing to do, she figured.

“Fine, we’ll try it your way and then we’ll do it this way,” Betty yielded, motioning to the crates from Edo.

“We won’t need to do it that way once we go in there and cool everything down. So, Wade, tell us what you have for us,” Kim said.

“Well, I brought some new things I was working on since you said things were really bad out here. I’ve got my improved stink bombs,” Wade informed them and he pulled one of the bombs off of the carts that he brought with him. The stink bomb was a small, round sphere.

“Doesn’t look like much,” Ron said as he inspected the thing.

“Want a demonstration?” Wade asked and before anyone could object to that, he tossed the bomb to the ground hard. He quickly covered his face.

The small ball burst open and a cloud of grey smoke came from the inside. It covered a fifteen-foot radius, which engulfed the group. They all began coughing and backing up from the area.

“Oh, man, that is foul!” Ron groaned as he crawled away from the stench; the terrible, festering miasma had knocked him off of his feet. Rufus was right with him, coughing as if he was chain smoker.

“Oh, man, Wade!” Kim complained while getting far enough away from the smell, even though she doubted that miles would be far enough. Oh, that stuff was beyond rank. She was surprised it had not knocked them all out. It brought tears to her eyes, though.

“Yeah, that’s a good one,” Wade commented while coughing himself. Obviously, just covering his face with his hand did not save him as he hoped it would. He made a mental note to never demonstrate such a weapon while he was standing around where it would go off.

“A warning next time, Wade-kun,” Betty said while trying to wave the smell away, but that was not working. It was like the stench was burning her whole brain.

They had to get away from the disgusting odor before they could even continue the discussion. They ended up backing into Yori, who had escaped almost a dozen yards away. Kim and Ron looked at the shinobi.

“How come you’re not coughing?” the blond samurai asked his wife.

“Ninpo (1)?” Kim guessed, speaking to Yori.

“Ninpo,” Yori confirmed with a nod.

“That comes in handy,” Kim commented.

Yori smiled a bit because ninpo did come in handy, especially with this lot. It certainly helped her escape that stink bomb and from what she could tell, the bomb worked well. She had expected as much since Wade was just as good at what he did as they were in what they did. She did not understand why her husband even called it into question; he was just asking for trouble and he seemed to get his wish.

“Okay, well, the stink bombs work,” Betty conceded. She thought that she was probably going to have to burn her clothes because she truly doubted that smell was ever going to come completely out.

“It doesn’t help much if it almost knocks us out,” Will pointed out, as if he was calling the boy’s genius into question.

“Which is why I brought these, too,” Wade said and he pulled out a mask from his cart. It was a mask designed to cover the mouth and nose and he had made it specially to combat against his stink bomb.

“Spanking!” Kim smiled and threw up a fist. Wade thought of everything in her opinion.

“Okay, so you got some masks and some smelly balls. So, what? That’s not going to be a match for rockets and guns,” Will stated gruffly.

Shaking his head, Wade actually chuckled a bit. “Oh, ye of little faith. Next, we have these.” He yanked out a larger sphere with a small wick coming out of it.

“A candle?” Will guessed with an arched eyebrow. How was a candle going to help anything? “This isn’t some game, even though I know you and Kim’s little friends like to play around.”

Wade ignored the snark. “Flash bomb. Do you guys want another demonstration?” He smiled.

“No!” they all objected, throwing their hands out to stop him.

“I sort of thought as much. If you use the flash bomb, you have five seconds to throw it after you light it and then you better shut your eyes. I’d like to see anybody aim a gun without being able to see,” Wade commented.

“I hope you have more than that,” Will huffed, folding his arms across his chest. He did not think those couple of little toys would be enough to storm the castle, especially with the arms their enemies possessed.

“I hope he’s not going in,” Wade said to Kim.

“Not if I can help,” she replied. 

“You don’t have a say in who can go in and who can’t,” Will said to Kim, glaring at her as if she were the enemy. His eyebrows bent down close to each other and a frown pulling his mouth to the ground.

“I do since this is my plan,” the redhead countered soundly, but seeming a bit smug about it, too. 

“When did it become _your_ plan?” he demanded with a hiss. His nostrils now flared out as intense hatred burned in his charcoal eyes.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe around the time I sent the message to Wade!” she answered the obvious with her fists clenched tightly together and shaking. It was as if she was ready to strike the arrogant spy, but held back.

“You two!” Betty hollered and stepped between them again to make sure that they did not get into a quick battle while everyone was focused on Wade’s inventions.

“Tell her I’m going in there,” Will said to his aunt, still appearing quite upset with the redhead.

“He can go in there all he wants on his own, but he’s not coming with us,” Kim declared while turning away from the infuriating young man.

“That could work. Wade, do you have enough for more than one team to go in?” Betty asked.

“I’ve got more than enough for everyone. I always come prepared,” the short genius answered with a beaming smile. Kim always made sure to thoroughly inform him of a situation, so he could show up as prepared as possible and he always did.

“Well, this just might work. As long as you do have more than just those stink bombs and flash bombs,” the one-eyed woman said.

“I might have a few things,” he commented, still smiling. He figured if things were as bad as Kim made them sound in her note, then he needed to bring her as much help as he could. After all, he had to pull his weight in the team if he wanted to have a team to belong to. 

-8-8-8-8-

Things were too quiet out there as far as Shego and the elder Senior were concerned. A whole day without any activity was just too suspicious, even if it just meant their enemies were tired of being shot at and blown up. Still, they did not like it. 

“Something’s going on,” Shego muttered.

“Yeah, those Shogunate dogs are running scared,” Drakken boasted and Junior raised a cup to that. 

Drakken and Junior took the silence as a time to celebrate their victory; _like Junior had even done anything_ , Shego thought. The pair decided it was a good time to get drunk, so they had a servant bring them wine and food. They left the room. Shego did not lament their exit and Senior did not seem too pressed for them to stay either. A snarl tugged at Shego’s lip, disgusted with their behavior.

“What do you think? A ninja raid?” Senior guessed, sitting down at a small table.

Shego sat with her back against the wall. “Probably. It would be the only way for them to do anything considering the moat, the wall, and everything. Besides, we can’t use the rockets on them inside the castle.”

He frowned at the very idea. “This is true. I’m sure this has come to mind for them, as well. Coming in seems like the best option for them if they’re going to do anything soon.”

She nodded. “It would be the smartest move if they’re going to do anything right now, even though it does leave them to be prey for the gun-wielding guards who seem to like blowing ninjas open. They might just be waiting for some real firepower or maybe even some more men to just storm the castle. There’s a few other options for them aside from just sending in some assassins or spies or something like that.” She shrugged and looked away in boredom.

Really, Shego had no feelings one way or another about what the Shogun’s forces were planning. Out of everything, no matter how insane things would get, she knew for a fact she was going to get away before anything heavy landed on her. She always did.

She would do her part while she was there and give input to whoever would listen, but if or when the situation became hopeless for her comrades, she would let their attitudes dictate her actions. If they continued to act as they were, she was not going to trouble herself with them since they seemed to be more eager to die than to live. She had better things to do with her time than suffer fools.

“Well, I’ll make sure to have all the guards out,” Senior stated. 

“Sounds smart,” she commented in a noncommittal tone.

“Anything you’d like to add?” he asked. He noted how detached she seemed to becoming toward their plight. 

She seemed almost bored with what was going on. She was actually getting close to reaching her limit of being around the people that she was stuck with. He thought it was good she was getting lax because it meant that when everything was over, it would be easier for him to take his revenge against her. She would never see it coming and he would have her in chains, waiting on his son before she knew what was going on.

“What more can you add? We might want to tell that rambling blue idiot to break out some other weapons if he has them. If there are ninjas coming, they’re not going to come like before. They’re not just going to let some mindless imbecile gun them down again,” she replied.

“That’s true. Where has Drakken gone?” Senior asked. He knew Drakken left with his son, but he doubted they spent much time together. They did not get along much.

Scoffing, she shrugged again. “Not getting on my nerves, so I don’t really care.”

“Most bodyguards would care about the wellbeing of their master.” 

“He’s not my master,” she stated plainly as she turned to leave his company.

Senior did not say anything as she walked away. She was just about the most uppity servant he had ever witnessed. He wondered how Drakken came across her. He did not wonder why Drakken kept her around, though. He had seen her in action, after all. 

Shego was not sure what she was going to do with herself. She was a little doubtful their enemies would attack tonight, but she would not mind it if they did. It just seemed too obvious and if Director Betty was in charge, she doubted the woman would go for the obvious. Unless, she found some rather exceptional ninja and that was an interesting thought.

“Or I’m wishing aloud again,” she grumbled.

The pale warrior walked to the window and looked out, checking on the action of the world. The sun sneaked off behind some hills as night approached and that was the only thing happening outside the window. Well, she guessed she would find out if there were stealth warriors coming in soon. If they did come in, she hoped it would not be boring or a massacre again. She needed something to do or she was just going to sneak out of the castle sometime soon. 

She would rather not have to be trapped around morons for months on end if the siege pressed on. She planned to give the circumstances another week or so, just to see what happened and then she was going to go her own way, at least for a while. If the siege persisted beyond the week, she also planned to see how her companions reacted to that. She was not interested in the arrogant attitudes they had going now and that was why she would leave, to give herself a break.

Maybe she would return to them for whatever reason or maybe she would enjoy being on her own. There was also the chance that while she was gone, they could be taken and then she would have to consider if she was going to rescue them again. Sometimes, she even dared to wonder why she put up with such fools.

“Maybe I’m an idiot,” she scowled.

-8-8-8-8-

“Do these pants make my butt look big?” Ron asked. He had on some dark blue hakama to go along with a matching jacket.

“Why is it every time we put on some ‘sneak’ gear, you have to ask that question?” Kim inquired.

“Sneak gear?” Will echoed.

“It’s what Ron-kun calls the outfits,” Yori replied. They were all dressed in dark blue, hoping to blend in with the oncoming darkness.

“Okay, so with more than one team going on, you can search every room they might be in once you make it to the keep,” Wade said while looking down at the map of the castle. “Do you all got this in your minds?” he inquired, referring to the layout of the fort.

“For the most part,” Kim answered. 

“You know, we could just wait until you all know the map,” Wade said.

“I’m not really interested in waiting,” the redhead replied. She wanted to go home. She had not been there in way too long in her opinion, not even bothering to count the one night she had spent there when her mission had ended. Added to that, she needed to be away from Will like yesterday. 

“If she’s going in, I am, too,” Will declared.

Some might have thought his declaration was sweet or loving or something like that if only they all did not know how he actually meant it. He was not going to allow Kim to show him up or take all of the glory and credit. He would not let it seem like she was better than he was. Besides, she might need him to get her out of some trouble since she had a tendency to get into things and since he was superior to her, he felt that he was responsible to save her from herself. And… maybe hold it over her head for the rest of their lives.

There were five teams of four who would go in, even though Kim’s team would only have three because Wade did not go into battle. Betty would have stuck Will in Kim’s team if only she did not know that it would be a disaster. Will and Kim would some how get to arguing and blow the whole mission; it had happened once a couple of years ago. No one wanted a repeat of that.

All of the teams took separate ways into the castle thanks to the blueprint of the castle, showing several different secret passages to go in. They knew some of the corridors had to be traps, but Wade seemed to know those, too, and told them what to expect. One day, Betty silently swore she would find out how that boy knew all that he knew, but today was not that day.

Kim sometimes questioned how Wade knew so much, too, but she was not too interested in finding out. She just wanted to close the mission, grab the bad guys, and go back home. She also hoped that she did not come across Yojimbo-san while in the castle. She hoped that he was not with his so-called friends anymore. 

She had no idea what she would do if she came across the bodyguard, except maybe feel disappointed that he had not taken the chance she had given him to be free. Was that it? Would she feel let down if he was involved with everything? Well, she knew that she would feel that way, but it seemed like there was more to it. 

There was an almost anxious feeling building in her because she thought Yojimbo-san might be in the castle with the other fugitives and that meant he was once again in danger of being captured and being killed for treason. The notion still did not sit right with her, even though Yojimbo-san seemed to be all right with going along with traitors. _Please, don’t be there_. Yet, part of her yearned to see him one last time, regardless of the situation.

Kim, Ron, and Yori moved through the castle silently and looked around a corner. They happened across a group of guards armed with guns. They hide in the shadows to avoid being seen. Kim reached into a pouch on her hip and pulled out a flash bomb. It was time to see what Wade had put together. 

“Ron-kun, do you have a light?” Kim inquired.

“Yup,” Ron answered. He had flint stones. It took him a moment to get a spark, but he got one and lit the bomb.

Kim quickly got rid of the sphere into the guards and she ducked behind the corner again. Five seconds later, there was a huge beam of white light that lit up the area almost like it was daylight. The guards screamed in pain when the brightness hit their eyes and the trio ambushed the guards, quickly knocking them out before their eyes readjusted to the dark… if their eyes were going to adjust anyway. There was always the chance they were blind now.

“Wow, Wade’s good at this,” Ron commented after they dropped the group.

Kim scoffed. “Was there ever a doubt?” Ron only laughed. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego strolled by a window again, wandering the halls of the castle for lack of a better thing to do. She noticed there were flashes of light going off in the lower, outer parts of the castle. She did not need to be out there to know what was going on.

Sighing, she stretched. “Finally. Guess I should go warn the circle of idiots.” Hopefully, something interesting was happening. She wanted to see her comrades’ reactions too, just to figure out if it was worth her time to be around them for even as long as she planned to.

“You guys, we have company,” Shego informed Drakken and the Seniors. She found them having drinks… again. _These guys really are stupid_. She was leaning heavily in on the option of “leaving them to die.” 

“Company?” the elder Senior inquired. He had thought they were going to be left alone for the night, which was why he decided to have a drink.

“Yeah, company. I think the ninja strike is on,” she replied.

“They’ll never make it to us,” Drakken declared in a smug tone. He sounded unbelievably confident in that statement and then he sipped his drink, further displaying his confidence in their power. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Shego remarked. She doubted they would come in again if they were going to just be slaughtered again. Their enemies had to have some plot against them.

“Even if they do make it this far, I’ve got something for them,” Drakken proclaimed and he began laughing again. 

Shego looked skeptical on that idea, but she wondered what he had up his sleeves. After all, his weapons were proving more than formidable now. Well, she would see what the outcome was going to be. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: “Akako-chan” and “Yojimbo-san” are reunited.

-8-8-8-8-

1: Ninpo: refers to ninja skill, but mostly the fictional and mythological actions ninjas were said to perform, like being able to disappear and such.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, once more, in case you missed out the first time — [art for this story](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077736/Honor-Bound-art).


	13. Set Off The Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

13: Set Off The Surprise

The Seniors’ castle was being invaded. They were quite aware of that fact. They just believed the guards would get rid of the insects that had crept into the castle like a tiny troop of ants. And even if the bugs made it into the inner workings of the castle, Drakken claimed to have some great, secret weapon that would definitely rid them of those Shogunate vermin once and for all. 

So, instead of fleeing the castle or at least going to a defendable room, Drakken and Junior were drinking. Again. Shego feared Drakken might develop an unnecessary drinking habit if he hung out with Junior a little longer. The man was neurotic enough without liquor.

The elder Senior had one drink, but decided to halt when informed of the attack. Shego and the elder Senior now discussed what could happen with the invaders. Drakken half-listened to the conversation and objected with a bit of a slur every time that his bodyguard dared to suggest that their opponents would make it so far while they were facing his guns.

“My guns will defeat them before they make it anywhere!” Drakken declared with a slur much louder than he needed to.

Shego rolled her eyes. “How about you lay off the sake for a little while there, doc? We might need you to be a little coherent.” She doubted that, but it could happen.

“I’m plenty coherent,” Drakken argued, looking at the wall, even though he spoke to Shego. “I’ve made the perfect plan!”

“Yeah, the last perfect plan you and your ‘perfect’ mind were part of ended with you in the dungeon. Let’s pretend this could go another way for a moment,” she remarked. He had such a one-track mind and failed to consider that things could possibly go in a different direction than the one he had planned for.

“That wasn’t my fault,” he grumbled like a petulant child.

“How about both of you try not to get too drunk while there’re enemies walking around the castle,” Shego suggested to her “boss” and Junior since they were still acting like they were relaxing at a teahouse.

The last thing she wanted to do was have to deal with drunken morons while having to get them out of the castle because the Shogun’s forces made it further than expected. In fact, she would be tempted to leave them if things came to that. Besides, they needed Drakken sober enough to get his secret weapon if necessary. He might have to operate the thing, too, even though he seemed good for making a very easy to use killing machine.

“You worry too much, Shego,” Drakken said and had the nerve to wave her off. The sake seemed to have loosened him quite a bit.

“Yeah, I tend to do that when an army of samurai are out to kill me and there are ninja crawling around the place I happen to be staying,” she remarked. 

“There’s nothing to worry about. They won’t make it by the outside guards because they’ve got guns,” the inventor pointed out.

“Guns that are low in ammo, so unless they’re going to start clubbing people with those guns, I think there’s a little reason to want to think of something else. You know, just in case,” she replied. 

The green-skinned warrior did not even bother with pointing out that it was dark outside. Sure, their guards had lanterns, but it was still night. There was the chance more troops might be coming in than before and their guards could easily be overwhelmed if enough people did sneak in. Of course, the inventor had not considered those possibilities and they still did not come to mind. That would not surprise Shego because her employer seemed to have a narrow frame of thinking, which was hardly a good thing in the time of battle.

“It’s all right. If they make it passed the guards, I have something better than guards lined up,” Drakken declared and he dismissed Shego with a wave of his hand.

The emerald-eyed warrior took offense to the action, especially since he had dared to do it twice, and decided to just leave those morons alone. She was starting to lose the very tiny amount of patience she had left for this lot. Their delusions of grandeur were amusing to her anymore, so they hardly served a purpose now. And the way they all seemed to think she was the one beneath them had worn terribly, dangerously thin.

She went to a window to watch the battle going on right outside, underneath them in the lower parts of the castle. She wondered how long it would take the troops to get into the main area of the castle and for the idiots to start panicking.

“Maybe I should just leave them if things get out of hand. I mean, it’s not like they care and they’re not doing much to save themselves. Why should I trouble myself over their lives if they don’t care?” She had not signed on for such stress, so the thought of leaving them to whatever destiny had planned for them was working its way closer and closer to the forefront of her mind. 

-8-8-8-8-

“This is going better than expected,” Betty muttered under breath as her people continued their assault trying to march into the inner workings of the castle.

She could not believe the flash bombs, the stink bombs, and the few knockout gas bombs Wade had invented were actually enough to go against the gun-wielding, maniacal guards in the Seniors’ castle. He had given them a couple of other things to use, but they had not even had to bother with those because the stink bombs and flash bombs were doing well against their enemies. The flash bombs blinded anyone caught in the glare and the stink bombs caused some guards to pass out as soon as they caught a whiff. The guards who did not fall out were unable to do much in the choking stench, so they were easy to take down. The knockout bombs had not been wasted on the guards for the most part.

Betty wished Kim had brought Wade along from the beginning or at least that the boy had shown up faster. She considered she might have to stop being so snippy toward “Team Possible” and just be grateful they were around more often than not. Maybe she would treat them to a big meal when they got back to Edo to show her appreciation, after she got chewed out by Vivian anyway since she had stood the blond up on their agreed tea time. Vivian was going to grind her into a fine powder, she was so sure of that.

The one-eyed woman stopped thinking about that as she hit a corner and was confronted by a trio of armed guards. She did not even bother to use a bomb on the three of them, just making sure to attack with the speed of lightning to make sure they did not get the chance to aim their weapons at her. She took them down with her devastating kicks, knocking them unconscious. She kicked like a mad horse, or so the rumor was anyway. The guards could possibly confirm that when they regained consciousness and if they remembered what happened.

“We’re going to make it,” Betty realized. They would make it to the inner parts of the castle if things continued going the way that they were, for her and her team anyway. She hoped that things were going the same for the other teams. She did not want to lose any more agents. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Man, I’m glad these masks work,” Ron commented as a group of palace guards collapsed thanks to one of Wade’s stink bombs. He spoke in a very low tone since they were being sneaky. He was actually not supposed to talk unless it was absolutely necessary, but he always ignored that rule; it was Betty’s rule for anyone that worked with her and her group. He tried to make it a point to ignore her rules when it was not life-threatening to do so.

“Really,” Kim concurred in a very small voice, too. If the masks did not work, they would have fallen out way back near the passage they entered the place through. Those bombs were potent. She could not imagine how concentrated the smell had to be in a narrow hall because out in the open it had nearly caused her to fall out.

“What do you think Wade-kun put in these bombs?” Yori wondered out loud, but spoke in a whisper.

“Ours is not to question what or why or how he comes up with these things,” Kim remarked in a hushed tone. She chuckled behind her mask.

“I suppose so,” Yori agreed. 

“Whoa, hold on,” Kim said and she halted the couple. They all leaned against the wall and the redhead peeked around the corner they had just come to. There were five guards standing around with their guns at the ready. 

“How many?” Yori asked in just about the tiniest voice she could muster for Kim to hear her.

“Five, ten feet away, standing in almost a circle. How many stink bombs do we have left?” the redhead inquired. 

“I’m down to four,” Ron reported.

“I still have most of mine,” Yori informed them. They each had had twenty of the small stink bombs because that was all that would fit in their waist pouches. She still had hers because her husband was having fun being the one to use his, throwing them at any guards they happened across.

“Okay, so same attack as usual,” Kim whispered.

The couple nodded; they used the stink bombs and then attacked with the speed of light against any guards who remained on their feet. Yori passed Kim a stink bomb since the olive-eyed samurai was the one who saw the group. Kim took the bomb and tossed it at the guards. The guards actually saw her as she made the throw. They opened fire until the bomb cracked one of them in the forehead. Kim dived to safety while the guards began choking on the foul miasma that fumed from the bomb.

Team Possible went to work as soon as the gunfire ceased. They charged into the guards and quickly took them down with powerful hand strikes. The guards fell to the ground, still choking and now thoroughly injured. The team moved on, drawing closer to the interior of the castle.

“Kim-chan,” Yori said. 

“Yes?” Kim replied.

“I am a little curious as to what you expect to find when we do make to the inside,” Yori admitted. She knew it was not really the time to discuss the issue, but it had been on her mind. Plus, she supposed the timing was not going to get any better through the night.

“I don’t expect anything except for criminals,” the redhead answered, knowing what her friend hinted at.

Kim hoped she did not find the bodyguard amongst these traitors. She would not mind never seeing the bodyguard again as long as she did not see Yojimbo-san with their enemies. She just wanted the bodyguard to remain free and to find his way in life. Surely he could do some good somewhere if he just stayed true to himself rather than following his master. Maybe they could meet again, outside somewhere with good stories to share.

Yori had a feeling Kim desired to see the bodyguard, but probably would not admit it even to herself. There was something between those two, the ninja was certain of that. She had not had the chance to see Kim with the bodyguard much, but the way Kim had not seemed apprehensive about being alone with the bodyguard in the slightest hinted at something. Something Yori decided not to consider just yet. 

-8-8-8-8-

“This isn’t looking too good,” Shego muttered to herself as she noticed there was still fighting going on. If they were going to successfully and easily repel the Shogun’s forces with those guns, they would have done it already in her opinion. She decided to go out for a closer look to see what they were up against.

Shego trotted outside the tower and went to find some invaders to engage. She spotted some below her, but saw they were about to take on some of the guards. She decided to wait, wanting to see how they made it passed all of Senior’s men.

She watched as a stink bomb incapacitated the guards. The ninjas easily took down the guards, who were too busy retching to remember they had guns and jobs to do. They were knocked unconscious and left where they fell. Sighing, Shego shook her head.

“Pathetic,” she growled.

The pale woman disappeared from where she was and went to go investigate another incident. She knew they could not be foiling the guards with just smelling projectiles. She easily found another group, which was even closer to the inner parts of the castle than the other invaders. And then she saw them use the flash bomb; well, she saw it for a moment.

The flash caught Shego by surprise and she fell off of the wall that she had been perched on. She landed on a small, well-pruned tree. She blinked several times and shook her head, hoping to dispel the spots that were flashing before her eyes. Not only was she temporarily blind, but it hurt like hell, too. She vigorously rubbed her eyes with her palms when blinking did not help.

“Shimatta (damn),” Shego cursed, still rubbing her eyes because of the pain. She threw a little tantrum while still in the plant. She would beat the living crap out of those ninjas when she came across them again.

It took almost a full minute for her to be comfortable with just opening her eyes again. She crawled off of the tree and staggered around for a moment. Once her legs felt all right, her eyes continued bothering her and she blinked several times. It did not help. She rubbed her eyes a little more before feeling comfortable with walking off.

Shego ran back into the inner part of castle and went back to the room with her male cohorts. Drakken and Junior were still drinking, much to her frustration. She was ready to just slap them around. They were being serious invaded and those morons were still drinking!

“I hate to break up your little party, but those guys are going to be in here drinking with you in about five to ten minutes, give or take a couple of minutes considering how stupid the guards are around here and the blinding light they’re packing. So, unless you guys are ready to go back to Edo right now in shackles, I suggest we do something,” the moss-hued warrior informed the trio with a huff.

Drakken had the nerve to glare at her. “Calm down, Shego,” he said in tone suggesting he was vexed with her. She was ruining their good time with her alarming nature when there was nothing to worry about as far as he was concerned. “I’ve got things under control, so calm down.” 

Emerald eyes went wide and her mind reeled for a moment. “You have things under control? Calm down? Okay, fine. I’ll calm down. I’m out of here. Once I’m a solid mile and a half away from you assholes, I’ll definitely calm the hell down. You guys make sure you greet the ninjas coming up nicely. Offer them something to drink and everything.” She motioned to the sake cups.

“Shego, you’re being too antsy about things. I told you I have a secret weapon. Right, Senior?” Drakken said to the daimyo.

Senior frowned because the inventor acted way too familiar with him. Drakken had not even used an honorific when addressing the lord. He supposed it was a petty thing to be upset about at the moment with ninjas marching toward the inner workings of the castle. They really needed to focus and get their priorities straight.

“He’s right,” Senior said to Shego.

“Well, you might want to get the secret weapon because, believe it or not, they’re pretty much at our door,” Shego stated.

“You’re probably exaggerating,” Junior commented, waving her off as if she was insignificant.

The green-skinned female growled in anger. Her tiny bit of patience evaporated at that moment. She grabbed Junior by lapels of his yukata. She flung him through the shoji, knocking the sliding door down. She then stomped out to him and grabbed him again while he was attempting to get his empty-head together. She dragged him over to a window and shoved his head through it, forcing him to stare out into the action.

“Do you see that?” Shego demanded, pointing out to the battlegrounds. There were sounds of the fighting, fists hitting flesh, steel hitting steel, shots from rifles, hollers of pain, and bursts of light from the flash bombs.

“Unhand me!” Junior ordered while his father and Drakken ran out to see the mayhem.

“That’s them, coming for you and you and you!” the pale woman stated, pointing to each man. 

“And you,” Senior added since she seemed to think that she was untouchable. She might look it and act it, but he was rather certain she was not demon and thus, she was not immortal. 

“And me? Funny, I don’t remember being rounded up and put in a cell by the Shogun’s dogs. They don’t even know I exist,” Shego stated smugly. She even smirked at him to drive home the fact that she had less to worry about than they did.

“What?” Senior asked and he realized she had a point, but she decided to explain it all anyway. 

“They never saw me and I don’t have much problem leaving you all to your lot if you’re not going to take this seriously. They’re not coming up here to throw you a fucking party. They’re coming to either kill you here or take you back to Edo for the Shogun to sentence you to death, death by crucifixion more than likely. I won’t lose any sleep on either option if you’re going to act like morons,” she replied. She would make it out of everything all right — as she always did — so she was only there for them at the moment and they were not really compelling her to remain. Of course, they did not seem to know that.

“Drakken, we need to get those secret weapons,” Senior said now that he saw how close the Shogun’s forces were. He did not think they would move so quickly through the castle. It was as if they knew how to make it to the keep, he thought.

“Um… okay,” Drakken agreed with a little tremble in his throat. He was slightly alarmed by the closeness of their enemies and he thought it was about time to hit those Shogunate hounds with something they had never seen before.

The group walked off, following Drakken and Senior. Senior picked up a lantern along the way for them to make it through the night-cloaked fort. They ended up in a cellar, going through secret passages to avoid the combat. They stopped in front of a row of some things that were covered with cloth.

“I was hoping we could save this for the Shogun himself,” the scarred inventor whined slightly. 

“Yeah, well, I was hoping I’d be taller, but things don’t always go the way we want in life,” Shego remarked. 

Drakken frowned at Shego for her smart mouth before turning his attention back to his secret weapon. He then pulled away the sheets covering his great invention. He looked rather proud as the sheets hit the floor and revealed what he had done. The others appeared puzzled, scrunched up faces and glancing at each other to make sure everyone saw the same thing.

“Well?” Drakken huffed, waiting for his praise. 

The others were not sure what they were supposed to say. They were looking at some statues of women as far as they were concerned. His big secret weapons were female statues? How were statues going to help? Especially statues that were hidden away in a hole under the castle? They were not even sure where to begin with hollering at the blue nut.

“That’s it, I’m out of here,” Shego declared, throwing her hands up. Drakken’s actions had just gone from amusing to sad. He had fallen off the deep end and she was not holding his hand on the way down. 

A cerulean forehead wrinkled and beady black eyes went wide. “What, do you mean?” Drakken whined in an impossibly loud tone.

“You dragged us down here and pinned our victory hopes on a bunch of statues!” Shego pointed out. _Oh, all the time I wasted with these losers_ , she thought in a fury. Of course, there were worse losers to waste her time with, but still the fact that she had wasted her time was just too much.

“Statues? They’re not statues,” the blue inventor said, shaking his head. 

“Then what are they?” Senior asked with an arched eyebrow. He ventured a step closer.

“I call them Bebes!” Drakken thundered with triumph, earning blank stares from his companions.

“Do you want to explain how they’re going to help or should I go back to my statement of being out of here?” Shego inquired, jabbing her thumb behind her.

“Oh, right,” Drakken said. He then went into explaining just what he had created. “They’re mechanical warriors,” he said, like that should make sense. 

“You mean like giant chahakobi-ningyou (tea-serving dolls)?” Shego asked with a craned eyebrow. “So, is the plan they walk up to our enemies, serve them the best damn tea they ever had, and then we all become friends?”

Drakken glared at her. “They not chahakobi-ningyou. Nothing like those. These are deadly weapons.” 

“I could die laughing from seeing them, yes. Is that how they destroy our enemy?” she needled him a little more.

Stomping his foot, Drakken huffed. “You can be so mean with your words, Shego! They’ll run through our enemies and paint the town with their blood!” 

“Okay, so how do we turn them on?” Shego inquired. She knew that to activate a tea-serving doll, a cup had to be placed on its tray. She did not see any trays for Drakken’s dolls.

Drakken looked at Shego like she was the idiot, which she noted and took some silent offense to. She did not bother to voice that because she needed to see how chahakobi-ningyou would save the day. She would save insulting him for later.

The inventor went over to the Bebe in front of him and twisted its arm. The statue came to the life and Drakken ordered the machine to go out and “kill the dogs of the Shogun.” The Bebe walked out of the cellar and went in search of the spies. 

“Wow, so you’re not as stupid as you look half the time,” Shego said what. They were all stunned by that fact.

“You know, Shego,” Drakken growled, but he did not get a chance to go beyond that. 

“So, to activate these things we have to twist all of their arms?” Senior asked as he looked around at the army of dolls. There had to be over a hundred windup machines there.

“Well… yeah. How else would we do it?” Drakken countered. 

Shego’s hands hit her side. “And I take it back.” He was as stupid as he appeared most of the time. If he could create such things, why not make a better way to get them started? He had to go with some tiresome, time-consuming way to get the thing going.

“Thank you, Shego,” Drakken said with a smile. Shego and Senior glanced at each other, but the inventor did not get it. “Well, start twisting,” Drakken ordered.

The others frowned, but they got to it since it was their last resort. They hoped the machines were as good as Drakken swore they were because if not, they would hand him over to the Shogun personally. It hurt knowing Drakken was the last resort.

-8-8-8-8-

“We’re almost there,” Kim informed her partners. They were pressed against a wall and Kim glanced around the corner. Sweat drenched their clothes as they tried their best to control their breathing to avoid panting to make as little noise as possible.

“Any more badnicks waiting for us?” Ron asked with a kunai in hand. He had run out of stink bombs. His chest heaved and his lunged burned. He was doing his best to not request they stop for a breather. He had to start working out more, he silently told himself. Or maybe it had not been the best idea to eat such a big supper before going in on a raid.

“I don’t see any so far. Let’s make a run for it,” Kim suggested.

“All right,” Yori concurred. 

The trio dashed around the corner and was a little surprised that they had not run into any guards. They had fought plenty of men on their way to get to the interior of the castle, but they did not know how many guards there were and they were not certain that they had gotten enough to count as “them all.” They understood Seniors’ men had to be split to cover every part of the castle and also had to be called to confront each team of intruders, but they still felt like there should be more guards.

“This is a cake walk,” Ron declared as they rounded another corner and were met with no resistance. 

“Stay focused. Just because there’s no one out here doesn’t mean there won’t be people inside, which we haven’t even made it to yet,” Kim pointed out.

“All right, all right,” Ron yielded. 

The blond samurai still thought things would be smooth sailings since they had not run into anybody yet. They continued on and they could see an entrance to the inside of the castle. Ron was ready to let out a hearty “boo-yah!” when they literally ran into some resistance. They noted the “clang” sound that echoed off the walls when they hit the figures and then they had to dodge swords. 

“Did they just clang?” Ron inquired, narrowing avoiding getting his head chopped off.

“Yes,” Yori answered, falling back to keep her intestines. 

“Since when do guards clang?” Ron asked, ducking another sword from the three guards.

“Who cares? Get them before we end up on the wrong end of the sword,” Kim replied, dipping to the left as a blade whizzed by her.

The couple agreed with that and everyone moved to defend themselves. They were glad they had not run into guards that were packing rifles or they knew they would have been in some real trouble. They went to counterattack with hand attacks only to hear that “clang!” sound each time they touched the guards. And they realized it hurt like hell to hit the sentries. 

“Ow!” Ron hollered while his female companions just shook their throbbing hands.

“It’s like hitting a gong,” Kim stated, flexing her hand to ease the agony away. 

“Let’s see how they handle this!” Yori flung some shuriken at the sentinels. Her projectiles bounced right off of the guards.

“Uh… That’s not right,” Ron pointed out. 

“Let’s see them handle this!” Kim proclaimed as she drew her used katana and went at the guards.

Ron and Yori just stood back because no one could rival Kim once she pulled her main weapon. The redhead attacked swiftly with powerful, albeit non-lethal strikes. They all noted the odd noises that came from the guards as Kim took them on. When Kim was finished the guards still stood, which the trio could not believe. Kim’s sword attacks were always the most efficient hits they had ever witnessed and they had never an opponent remain standing after facing her.

“Uh-oh,” Rufus squeaked and he took shelter in Ron’s shirt.

“You said it, pal,” Ron agreed and then the guards finally fell. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. And, even though she did so more subtly than her husband, Yori also breathed a sigh of relief.

The guards again made a strange noise as they hit the ground. Kim was curious and she wanted to know what was going on. She touched her sword and noted that it was bone dry. She sheathed the blade back on her hip and then leaned down to inspect the group that she just fell.

“What are you doing?” Ron inquired.

“Something isn’t right about these guys,” Kim replied.

She found the first thing that was not right about those guys were that they were not guys. The guards seemed to be female upon closer inspection and even closer, it seemed they were not even human. Kim touched one of them and noticed it was made of metal. Before she could gather any further understanding, the sentries began to pick themselves up.

Kim jumped back and quickly drew her sword again. Ron’s and Yori’s eyes went wide as they watched the guards get up from Kim’s initial attack. The redhead wasted no time assaulting the guards again. She launched herself at them and surprised her friends with the powerful attack she had hit the group with. The couple thought Kim had killed them as parts fell off of the guards and they hit the ground again.

“Kim-chan,” Yori said in shock. They, as in all three of them, did not kill, unless it was absolutely necessary. It did not seem essential at the moment.

“It’s okay. They’re not human. I think they’re dolls,” Kim replied as she returned her sword to the scabbard.

“Dolls?” Ron echoed, his eyebrows curled up. Who made dolls human size and armed them with deadly swords?

“Yeah, dolls. Look,” Kim said and she lifted up the head of one of the guards. Her friends squinted to get a good look at the thing in the dark.

“Who would make dolls and have them attack us?” Ron wondered out loud while looking around, as if he expected the creator to step out of the shadows to claim his work.

“I don’t know, but there’s more on the way,” Yori pointed out as she turned into the direction of the entrance of the corridor. A throng of guards worked their way toward the ninjas.

“Oh, great,” Ron muttered sarcastically with a snort.

“So much for the stink and flash bombs, huh?” Kim remarked as she drew her sword a third time.

“Why didn’t we just go home?” the blond whined.

Kim scoffed. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Come on, Ron-kun. It is our honor to help out Director-sama,” Yori commented with a bit of a smile.

Ron looked skeptical to that statement as the guards attacked them. The clang sound that came from the group let the team know they faced more dolls. The trio of friends countered with a fury, knocking the robots out with some forceful attacks, wanting to disable the machines quickly.

“These things aren’t so tough,” Ron commented as they dropped the dozen or so dolls that came at them. They marched into the belly of the beast — the inner parts of the castle.

“Should we split up and search for the Seniors and the blue one?” Yori asked. They had a limited amount of time and a lot of area to cover. They did not want to chance their enemies escaping again. 

“Let’s stick together for the moment. We don’t know how many of these tinker toys might be wandering around here,” Kim replied.

Yori nodded. “That makes sense.”

They did not want to run into a huge group of dolls and be solo. The machines might not have been too bad when they were together, but they could easily be overwhelmed alone. They walked through the castle and then were suddenly attacked by another group of female dolls. 

“Okay, now this is getting a little too repetitive,” Ron commented, sounding slightly aggravated, as he pulled his sword to block the blade of one of the dolls. He typically did not use his sword, the Lotus Blade, as a katana when fighting because his battle technique was actually better suited for using a staff. The good thing about the Lotus Blade was that it could be whatever he wanted, though.

“It is,” Kim concurred and then Ron got kicked by one of the metallic puppets.

“Ouch, and painful,” the blond added, feeling like the blow had broken all of his ribs in one shot. “Great, so not only is hitting these things like hitting a gong, but being hit by one is like being slapped with a gong.” It certainly rang his bell. And then he noticed more toys were coming to join the party. “Could this get any worse?” he groaned.

“Really?” Kim huffed in her best friend’s direction. He should know better than that! 

One would think Ron knew by now to never ask that question considering the life that he led. His question was swiftly answered. A couple of the dolls tried to hit Yori, but could not touch her with their hands or swords, so they went another way with things. The two toys’ left hands flipped up, revealing hollowed out arms with small flames inside. Suddenly, some kind of powder shot through the limbs and was ignited by the small flames as it exited the shaft. 

Yori actually yelped because of her surprise and she jumped out of the way, just missing having a fire ball shot in her face. Ron groaned when he noticed the fire. Well, he decided to scratch something else off of the list of things he had never seen. Who would have thought of fire-shooting, sword-wielding dolls?

“This is probably going to get worse before it gets better,” Kim commented.

The couple was in agreement with that. That did not stop the trio from fighting as hard as they could. They would finish this job no matter what.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego decided to go see what was going on while the Seniors and Drakken went to go hide since they were now aware of how dire the situation was. She wanted to see what it was that Drakken had unleashed with his large chahakobi-ningyou. Were those Bebe things as great as he swore they were? She was leaning toward no, but she would find out before passing judgment.

“Oh, who am I kidding? I just want to see what’s going on. I have a really weird idea of entertainment,” Shego muttered to the air.

It did not take long for her to figure out that something was wrong. She could smell smoke and it got warmer as she went through the castle. _What’s going on?_

“Did they set the damn place on fire with their own people inside?” Shego wondered, referring to the Shogun’s merry band of idiots. Of course, she could not put it passed her own merry band of idiots to do something _that_ stupid.

She got the answer to that question shortly after asking. Coming to a window, she looked out to see the other side of the castle hall. Thanks to plenty of lanterns she could see what was going on, not to mention a fire happening in the hall. The fire was a lot more helpful than the lanterns actually. There were also some people fighting with Drakken’s dolls.

She watched as the machines got flung around, even out of the room. She then saw the flames coming from the toys’ wrists, so she knew they started the fire. As they were being thrown about the castle, the small fires from their hands turned into big fires as they hit things around the place.

“Oh, yeah, that’s brilliant. Make unfeeling, non-thinking toys throw fire,” Shego mumbled, rolling her eyes. 

The warrior went off to see if she could get a better idea of how big the fire was, only to find out there was more than one fire. More than one group was engaged with those Bebe machines and the toys shot flames at them, setting the whole castle ablaze. 

“Screw it,” Shego grumbled. She was just going to get out of there before the whole castle collapsed. With luck, she might even be able to take her three idiots to safety.

Shego took off and ran right into the last group that she wanted or needed to see, Director Betty’s group. She sucked her teeth and turned around to escape as quickly as she could. Betty noticed, but she was too busy trying to get a few Bebes from roasting her to go after the fleeing bodyguard.

“Shimatta, I hope that wasn’t who I think it was,” Betty muttered. 

Shego cursed to herself, too. She needed to get out of the doomed castle, preferably with her three idiots. She ran toward an exit to the hall and was close to it, but did not make it. A body came flying through the wall and collided her. She and the body coughed as they smashed into the back wall and then they dropped the floor.

“Son of a bitch,” Shego groaned. 

“Sorry about that,” a familiar voice apologized and then the pair got a decent look at each other.

“Akako-chan!” Shego gasped at the petite redhead lying next to her. What the hell was the little shamisen player doing in the castle during a siege?

“Yojimbo-san?” Kim asked, squinting in confusion. The bodyguard was the only person who called her that. Wait, did that mean that Yojimbo-san was a woman?

What the hell was going on!

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the fighting goes on. See who wins. Also Kim versus Shego.


	14. Follow the Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

14: Follow the Leader

Shego and Kim could not believe their eyes as they stared at each other. Shego wanted to know why she ran into someone she knew as a maiko named Akako in Senior’s castle as it burned to the ground. One could only guess why Drakken thought dolls wielding fire was a good idea. _Yeah, he’s really a genius_ , Shego thought sarcastically. 

Oppositely, Kim wanted to know why she was next to a woman whom she was certain was Yojimbo-san. The body type alone spilled the secret. Not to mention, thanks to the fire illuminating the place, she could make out the pale green complexion and she was pretty sure Yojimbo-san was the only person alive with such a skin tone.

“Akako-chan, what the hell are you doing here?” Shego demanded, more concerned than angered oddly enough. She had hoped the girl was some place safe and yet there she was in a burning fortified structure.

“What’re you doing here, Yojimbo-san?” Kim countered; her tone was not as forceful. She sounded somewhere between confused and disappointed, which was how she felt, too. 

“And why’re you dressed like that?” Shego asked as she got a good look at the outfit the shamisen player wore. She then noticed the swords on the redhead’s hip. A frown cut across her face as her emerald gaze narrowed. “You’re with them, aren’t you?” she growled.

“And if I am?” Kim said with her chin tilted in defiance. She had done so much to make sure Yojimbo-san had not been captured before when the traitors had been rounded up and yet here the bodyguard was with those fugitives again. It was like she had troubled herself for nothing. She was close to feeling like a fool for acting on the behalf of the bodyguard.

Shego snarled in pure fury, taking the question as a confirmation that the redhead was one of the Shogun’s dogs. She was about to ignite her hands and tear into the teen with no mercy, but the fire around them blazed up higher than before. The ceiling began coming down and Shego figured it was more important to get out of the castle alive rather than punish the petite redhead at the moment. She shoved Kim away from her with hateful force.

“We’ll settle this some other time, Akako-chan,” Shego said the name with disdain oozing from it and a frown tugged at her lips.

Kim fell back while Shego climbed to her feet. The green-skinned woman took off in the direction Kim faced. The samurai pushed herself up from the floor and was about to go after the departing villainess, but the ceiling collapsed. Putting her arm up to protect her head, the olive-eyed female leaped back to avoid burning debris falling on her.

Shego heard the wreckage hit the floor and could hear the fire popping. Her heart jumped at the noise. She turned back to see what happened; a part of her that she refused to acknowledge now knew she needed to make sure the younger warrior had not been harmed. She saw Kim’s path was blocked, but there was movement on the other side. A sigh stuck in her throat and she safely swallowed it down. She made her escape, still thinking she might be able to get to Drakken and the Seniors.

“Yojimbo-san!” Kim called almost at the top of her lungs to make sure that she was heard.

There was no response to her shout and she had to move back as the fire shot higher around her. She shielded her face from the fire and then decided to get back to her friends as smoke began to fill the hall. They would have to get out of the castle soon or they were would trapped. She returned to the couple. They were still fighting with the mechanical dolls. 

“Guys, we need to get out of here! The whole place is on fire,” Kim urged her team.

“What about the fugitives?” Yori asked, making sure to hold off any opponents that were near her.

“With luck, someone else found them because at the moment, we can’t do anything about them. We need to get out of here or we’ll be incinerated,” Kim stated. 

“Koibito, let’s listen to Kim,” Ron said. The inferno was now pretty much out of control and the toys they took down just added to the fire. Kim was right.

Ron grabbed his wife and decided to make a dash for the nearest exit. For him, survival always beat out finishing a mission, especially when his spouse was involved. Yori was similar being a ninja and all, but she usually believed in finishing the mission before making a hasty getaway. Kim was right behind her friends because she was certain there was no way for them to finish the assignment with the heat wave that the fort was experiencing.

The tinker toys were not ready to leave the trio alone, though. The Bebes followed the fleeing invaders and engaged them again. The friends turned around to fight just in time to avoid being cut in half by the dolls and their swords.

“Why do people think these things up for evil?” Ron hollered as he tried to force a doll away from him with the Lotus Blade, which was back in the form of a katana. He ended up having to kick the metallic female in the chest to push the thing away.

“Because there’s always some mad scientist out there that takes up insane things instead of doing something relaxing,” Kim replied, throwing one doll over her shoulder into another doll.

“Like flower arrangement?” Ron wondered out loud.

“If we ever run into a villain who does flower arrangement, I might have to quit doing this,” the redhead commented. She suspected any bad guy who did flower arrangement too was probably uniquely insane and she just needed to stay away from such a bad news individual lest she lose her mind, too.

Yori tried her best not to laugh at all because of the dire situation they were in and forced herself to not imagine some insane assassin doing flower arrangements. Ron was not as good as his spouse and had to imagine some psycho doing flower arrangements. He laughed just a little and then suddenly got attacked by another doll in his distraction. He yelped and focused on defending himself. As they continued to try to fight off the machines, they could tell the fire growing worse than they could have imagined.

“We’re going to be fried at this rate!” Ron pointed out the obvious while still keeping back the Bebes.

“Then we need to act like this is serious,” Kim stated, which was also rather apparent. 

“Using real moves on toys? We should be ashamed,” Yori muttered.

“Yori-chan, I think it’s our honor to live through this one in any way that we can, even if we didn’t get the bad guys and they’re just toys,” Kim commented. 

The shinobi (ninja) agreed with that, but she was still a little insulted they would have to use good attacks against mindless dolls. Kim could relate to that, but it was not really the right time to be too proud to show up a doll. Ron just wanted to get out of there.

Since they were breaking out their serious attacks, Ron put his sword away, kind of. He changed the Lotus Blade into the weapon he worked best with — a bo-staff. He went to work right away on the dolls, using his staff and Tai Shing Pek Kwar as best he could. He was on point; he always worked best in combat when under pressure.

Yori fell back on some mystical ninpo techniques. She lured a couple of dolls in and then vanished as they were about to attack. The dolls ended up hitting each other, which was what she counted on. Her ninpo techniques proved to be highly effective, especially since the machines could not predict any moves or adjust to the change. 

Kim gripped her sword tightly. She dashed at the dolls and cut through them with ease, which her friends expected her to. The couple even recognized the sole attack Kim used, tearing down their nonliving opponents.

“Hey, Kim, did you ever think that if you didn’t call the slash attack the ‘nine-tails of fury’ the rumors of you being a kitsune might ease up a bit?” Ron joked as he finished up the dolls around him. He remained alert, just in case some more foes came out of nowhere.

With a scowl cut across her face, Kim sucked her teeth. “Let’s just get out of here.” She hated to even hear about those ridiculous rumors. She silently agreed with her best friend, though.

It was possible that maybe if so many of her sword techniques did not have anything to do with fox spirits then people would not consider her a fox. But, she could not help the names of the techniques. Her sword style went way back to the start of the Possible clan as far as she knew. She could not just go changing such things just to avoid the rumors going around about her. Besides, people would always talk no matter what.

The trio broke through the mechanical guards that were in their path and made a beeline for an exit. They made it to a part of the yard of the castle that was not on fire and fought with some more Bebes. It was then they realized they might have a problem on their hands… more so than the Bebes and the blaze. Would they be able to remember the proper way out with fire-crazed machines nipping at their heels along with an out of control blaze chasing them in its own way too? They were about to find out. 

“Do these things ever stop coming?” Ron hollered in annoyance as he beat back a pair of Bebes while Yori and Kim were busy debating on which way they were supposed to go to get out of the castle.

“We took a right here,” Kim argued, which meant they needed to go to the left to get out of the deadly castle.

“No, we didn’t. We came from that way,” Yori disagreed, pointing to their right.

“Could you two just pick a way and let’s go!” the blond begged.

Yori and Kim looked at each other and smiled. They nodded. “Up.” 

They both grabbed Ron and leaped over the high wall in their way. Ron had to yell from the surprise; it was force of habit. Rufus was still in his sleeve and he cheered because it was a fun trip, even if it was unexpected. As soon as they landed, they all took off running. They jumped any other wall they came to, including the last one that fortified the castle. They seemed to forget there was a moat around the castle.

The trio hit the water with a huge splash. They sank rather deeply because of their equipment, but they easily swam to the surface. They all gasped in some deep breaths of air as soon as they popped up from the deep, manmade pool.

“Again!” Rufus squeaked as he emerged from Ron’s collar and he spit out some water.

“Why didn’t we do that in the first place?” Ron inquired in a bit of a puzzled tone while making sure to keep his head above the water.

“Did you want to leap that many walls more than once?” Kim countered. They would not have had any strength left in their legs to do the job they were supposed to if they had leaped those walls to get into the castle keep. 

“Point taken,” he conceded.

“Um… would it not be a good idea for us to get away from the wall with a fire going through that castle so easily?” Yori pointed out.

Kim and Ron nodded. They swam to the edge of the moat and pulled themselves out of the water onto the shore. They moved back from the castle and sat down to catch their breath. They watched the fire build up and wondered if the others made it out safely.

They got the answer to that question some minutes later. Everyone regrouped and Betty had in her possession the main fugitives as far as she was concerned — Senior, Junior, and Drakken. Shego had not been able to make it back to them, but they had been caught before that anyway. They were all bound and gagged because Betty was in no mood to hear anyone’s mouth at the moment. Apparently, Yojimbo-san got away, Kim noted.

“All right, everybody, let’s head back to Edo!” Betty announced to the group. She had everyone she needed since she had the escapees.

“Wait,” Kim said. She was not certain why she was speaking up, but it seemed her mouth had done so automatically. Was she about to say her words out of revenge or curiosity, she wondered because she knew just what she was about to bring up.

“Yes, Kim-dono?” the one-eyed woman inquired with a bit of a sigh. She did not want to hear anything at the moment. She just wanted to get back to the city and get back to her normal life. Not to mention, she still had to face Vivian’s wrath. Maybe she should have stayed in the fire, she considered.

“There’s still one more person to catch,” the redhead said matter-of-factly. Did she want an excuse to go after Yojimbo-san? And, even if she did, why, she asked herself. She could not figure it out, or so she told herself. But, from the way her body twitched, she knew she needed to chase Yojimbo-san.

Betty looked at Kim and wondered if the samurai meant Shego. Had Kim seen Shego? She supposed she would have to find out because if she meant Shego, Betty would have figure out how to get Kim to understand chasing Shego was pointless. No one alive, or even dead, would be able to capture Shego and bring her before the Shogun. 

“One more person?” Betty asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Drakken’s bodyguard,” Kim answered. 

“Drakken’s bodyguard?” Betty echoed, mouth drawing downward a little. Was that what Shego was? Drakken’s bodyguard? She probably could not have sunken any lower if she tried and she doubted Shego would sink _that_ low. Shego had way too much pride to be the servant of such a weed, or so she tried to convince herself.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll go after the bodyguard with your permission,” Kim stated.

Yori looked at Kim curiously. She was not sure how to take the redhead’s volunteering to hunt down Yojimbo-san. Did Kim just want to see him again or was she really going to go out of her way to turn in a friend and have that friend crucified for treason? Yori doubted it was the latter and would bet her left leg that it was the former. 

Kim was not even sure why she had just offered herself up to more work when she should have just been thinking about going home and reveling in that. _What am I hoping to gain going after Yojimbo-san_ , she silently asked herself several times. Did she want answers to the questions that she now had, like why the bodyguard did not just continue to enjoy her freedom rather than risking everything to be with people she claimed to dislike? There was of course the obvious question of the bodyguard being a woman in the first place.

“You’ll go after the bodyguard?” Betty echoed in a calm tone. Silently, she milled over the idea. Could she let Kim go after Shego if that was who the teen meant? There was a lot of room for error, but then again, the redhead was not the type to make mistakes. It was also very unlikely that Kim would do something rash, but she could still do something that would not end well.

“I will,” Kim confirmed with a confident, strong nod.

Betty thought about it for a long moment. It was very possible that Shego was not the bodyguard. She looked at Drakken and thought some more. _There’s no way Shego would be out with this loser_ , she told herself. _And no way Shego would do something this crazy_. This left her wondering what Shego was doing at the castle, though.

It was not uncommon for Shego to be involved in some sort of plot to overthrow the government. She bounced around, moving in all kinds of nefarious circles doing who-knew-what in the underground, and surfaced every now and then for some absurd, big scheme that always fell through, much of the time before it even got started. She never seemed to care and just disappeared back into the shadows, waiting for something new to catch her attention. But, she never made an appearance as a servant for someone. If anything, Shego was a co-conspirator in plots she was involved, even if a lot of the time, she only seemed to be involved halfheartedly. They were usually ridiculous, bordering on laughable, nothing this serious. With that in mind, Betty figured Kim meant someone else and she made her decision on that knowledge. 

“Get going,” Betty ordered the redhead in an almost uncaring tone.

Kim nodded. Before she took off, she threw on her other clothes since those were dry. She then turned to her friends and bid them farewell. Yori gave her an intense stare, as if demanding she explain herself, but she could not. She did not even know what she was doing, after all.

“Kim-san,” Yori said in a stern voice.

Kim sighed. “I’m not going for the reasons you’re assuming.” Those were never the reasons, but especially now since she knew more about Yojimbo-san than the ninja did. 

Yori’s mouth turned up. “Then why are you going?”

Kim shook her head. Yori just looked at her again, almost disapprovingly, but there was a sparkle in her eye. Kim turned away, not wanting to blurt out what she knew about Yojimbo-san to stop Yori from assuming the wrong thing. 

“Take care,” Ron said to the olive-eyed samurai in a strong voice, one that said he was confident in her abilities. “When you get back to Edo, we’ll hang out,” he added just to let her know they were getting back to their normal lives for a little while once she returned home. No more favors for Director Betty for a while. 

“Be careful,” Yori said to Kim, trying her best to mask her concern for the redhead. She failed rather badly for someone with her training.

Kim smirked to show her confidence. “I’ll be fine.”

Yori shrugged slightly; she was not too sure about that. She was pretty worried. It was not that she thought something bad would happen to Kim, but she just wished she knew what Kim was trying to do. It probably would help matters if the redhead knew just what she was attempting to do. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego made her getaway from the castle and through some trees. She tried not to think about how she had left the others behind, not that she had much of a choice with the stronghold burning down. She was not too surprised by what happened in the castle, as far as Drakken’s machines went anyway. His plans seemed to sound good in his head, half the time they looked somewhat good on paper, and then when they were put into practice something always happened to screw it up. It was strangely endearing. She probably would have tried harder to rescue him if it was not for one person.

Look, Drakken was a screw-up, but he was _her_ screw-up. Yes, he did annoying things, but something annoying could also be amusing after she had a chance to sit down and think about it. Maybe she would have considered the stupid move with fire-shooting dolls amusing days from now because of how unbelievably dense it was for the man to make toys that threw fire, but did not have judgment to know when and where to use it. Obviously, he did not think that far ahead. Despite his shortsightedness, she still would have gone back for him and maybe even tried to wrestle him from Director Betty, but she just did not want to see that one person.

 _So, Akako-chan had actually been a spy_ , Shego silently growled. She could not believe she had allowed a spy to get to her! And she had been foolish enough to think she made a friend. _Stupid_ , she berated herself. _Stupid and sloppy!_  

She could not believe she fell for that act! She thought Akako was just some cute, little shamisen player. She thought the girl was trapped in that gilded cage, longing for freedom, but she did not have the courage to pursue it. It had all just been a lie, though! The girl had lied to her.

“Damn her,” she growled. 

Something underneath the fury simmered and made Shego even angrier. There was a bubbling pain bouncing through her nerves and churning in her guts. She tried her best to ignore the underlying agony of being betrayed by someone she thought was her friend. _I don’t care_. Now, if only that were true. 

Well, she cared enough to be upset, but not enough to be hurt. _This just made me stronger_. She would get her revenge on that lying, little bitch. She would never allow anyone make a fool out of her. Growling under her breath, she made a tight fist, not caring that her nails bit into her palms through her gloves.

She thought about how happy she had been when she thought Akako had left the teahouse to be free, but it turned out that she just left because she had not truly been a prisoner. _She just used that_ , Shego growled mentally. A kid had played her. It was unforgivable!

Shego figured she would escape for a while, but she would eventually go look for that evil, little redheaded tramp. She would get that kid back and teach that damned whore to never fool around with her again, not that the lesson would stick long considering how pissed she was. She might just have to slay that little bitch and be done with her.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim took off on the bodyguard’s trail. She left behind her horse, thinking it would be easier to track the green-skinned warrior on foot. So, she was off to wear down her zori (sandals). She doubted Yojimbo-san had gotten far and even if she did, Kim was confident she would catch up to the bodyguard soon enough.

“But, what the hell will I do once I catch up with her?” she asked herself. Would she just sit down and try to talk about things, like why the green-skinned warrior returned to Drakken? Would she just fight with the bodyguard and take her back to Edo where she would be crucified for treason? She was not sure. Maybe she would be able to sort it out once she caught up with the bodyguard. Well, she hoped that was the case. She was not used to feeling confused and torn on an issue. She disliked it immensely.

She felt a little stupid for having gone out of her way for the bodyguard since Yojimbo-san had gone right back to those traitorous idiots. And she was ready to believe Yojimbo-san might actually be a bit stupid to have returned to such losers. They had already been captured once. Did the bodyguard really think they would get away a second time? But, she supposed that also applied to her.

She had assumed the bodyguard would not go back to her master. _What in the world made me think that?_ Maybe she was just wishing much too hard. _And why was I wishing at all? What the hell was I thinking? Where was my head that day?_

Each question made her frown more until she could feel the tension coil in her whole body. She wanted to be upset with herself and with the bodyguard for not doing what she should have, but she could not manage that. She was just curious as to what went wrong and it bothered her to not be able to figure it out.

Why had the bodyguard thrown away a chance to be free to stick with traitors? It did not make any sense to Kim, no matter how much time she devoted to contemplating the matter, which was more time than she liked or would ever admit to. She needed an explanation from the person who just threw away her hard work.

It seemed practically ungrateful, in Kim’s opinion. She had given Yojimbo-san a gift the bodyguard claimed to want, but it was not cherished. A part of her soul felt injured from that and she desired answers as to why the present was not cherished, loved, and cared for.

“Is that why I’m going after Yojimbo-san?” she asked herself. Maybe. Hopefully, she would find out soon.

She continued to tell herself it would not take too long to catch up to the bodyguard, even though days passed and she did not catch up to the pale woman. Had she underestimated the bodyguard? How had Yojimbo-san gotten so far so fast? She decided hers was not to question. Hers was just to locate. 

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego lounged underneath a tree. She had a new travel hat and had it pulled over her face, blocking out any sunlight that made it through the leaves. She had a long piece of grass in her mouth. She was obviously just relaxing.

 _What should I do now?_ She could keep running for a while, she could go back to Edo for her revenge, or she could just go look for a new clown considering Drakken was more than likely dead on a cross by now. Her stomach twisted a little at the thought. She would have to let those musings go for the moment because she could tell that she was about to have some company.

“Yojimbo-san,” Kim said as she stood before the pale woman.

Shego looked up and smirked like a demon. It would seem her question had been answered and the gods were smiling upon her because she did not even have to go anywhere for the answer. She would have to go for revenge with the bitchy redhead right in front of her. 

“Akako-chan,” Shego said the pet name with such venom it might as well have been an insult.

Kim was lost now, especially since Yojimbo-san was far from pleased to see her yet again. What was she supposed to do? Did she want to take the bodyguard in? Did she want to just talk? She was not sure and nothing came to mind. She could hardly remember the questions she wanted to ask, but out of everything, there was still a dull ache underneath the surface about the fact that the bodyguard had thrown away the effort she had taken to let the pale woman keep her desired, beloved freedom.

“It’s good that you came to me,” Shego commented, looking like the _evil_ cat who got the cream. 

“How so?” Kim asked with an arched eyebrow. Maybe the bodyguard wanted to talk and they could clear everything up. Then, maybe, she would be able to figure out just what she should do with the bodyguard. 

Devilish delight danced in emerald eyes. “It just means I don’t have to go back to Edo to kill you,” she replied as if that was the logical answer. She climbed to her feet.

“Kill me?” Kim repeated, tilting her head a little.

“Yup,” Shego said and she put her hand on a sword that she had on her hip. It was not quite a katana that she carried, but it did the job more often than not. Her blade was a ninjato (ninja sword). She did not even bother to take her hat off for the fight.

“Wait, Yojimbo-san, you don’t really want to do that,” the younger warrior objected. She honestly did not think anyone wanted to get into a sword fight with her if it could be helped. 

“Yeah, I do,” the pale woman replied with conviction.

The redhead samurai was not sure what to do and then Shego came at her, so she did not really have time to think about what was happening. She leaped back, avoiding getting cut in two. Shego laughed a little bit; the kid had some sharp reflexes.

“Fine, you want to do it like this, then I’m just going to have to take you down and take you back to Edo,” Kim declared as she put her hand on her long sword’s handle. It would seem that everything between them, whatever it was, had been ruined the moment she literally slammed into the bodyguard back at the castle.

Shego scoffed. “You think you’re so big and bad because you work for the Shogun. If you think you can take me on, come on. Hell, if you beat me, I’ll go back to Edo voluntarily with you and turn myself in,” the pale woman boasted with a confident smirk.

“Then I guess you’ll be going back voluntarily and turning yourself in,” Kim replied. It worked for her.

“Bring it on now then, A-ka-ko-chan,” Shego replied, saying the name slowly and pronouncing each syllable to further taunt the younger female. 

“It’s Kim. Possible Kim,” she introduced herself with pride. Her chin went in the air and she smiled.

“I’ll be sure to carve it on your grave,” Shego remarked, deciding to untie her hat for the battle. The Possible clan name was not one to fool with, but still, this kid was just a kid. 

Kim did not respond and Shego charged her; the pale woman’s hat flying off behind her. They clashed swords, which surprised Shego. The raven-haired female thought she would be easily to run the olive-eyed spy through. She was aware Kim would have some skill being an inu (dog/spy) for the Shogun and a Possible, but she did not think Kim would be any match for her. No one ever was.

Shego went into another strike, but Kim blocked that also. The emerald-eyed fighter was fast, Kim noted. Faster than any other opponent the girl had faced or could even think of. That was all right, though. She was fast, too, and she never lost.

Kim went on the attack as soon as she had the chance, which stunned Shego. The pale woman managed to avoid the strike, but not by much. Kim could not believe her eyes; someone had just dodged her? That almost never happened.

 _Fine_ , Kim said to herself. She just started another attack, but again Shego dodged. The pale woman then countered, but Kim moved out of the way. They clashed swords again and again. The song of their blades echoed through the countryside as they slid against each other. No one gained any real ground or advantage, which surprised both of them.

 _This kid is pretty good_ , Shego thought to herself. In the back of her mind, she noted that it was nice to go against someone who did not crumble five seconds into a fight. It had been so long since she had a real challenge that it almost tasted sweet. 

Kim was of similar thinking. She was unaccustomed to fighting against someone for more than a minute or so, especially in one-on-one combat. She had always thought the Possible sword techniques were the most powerful of any form, but Shego was countering her and avoiding her like it was something she did everyday. It was impressive… maybe even a little invigorating. 

The two fought against each other, getting in each other’s faces, pushing each other back, and charging forward. Suddenly, they locked weapons. They shoved away, both flinging the other’s sword away. They gawked at each other for a moment in disbelief and then they looked at their weapons, which were point down in the ground as if the earth were their scabbards. They turned their attention back to each other and then Shego smirked. 

“Well, samurai-san, you seem to be out of luck,” Shego chuckled. She used “samurai-san” because she did not even want to think of the damnable redhead as the Akako that she knew and had come to like. Akako was dead as far as she was concerned now.

“How so, Yojimbo-san?” Kim inquired with an arched eyebrow. 

“I’m better without a sword,” Shego remarked and she put her hands up in a fighting position, as if her hands were claws instead of making fists.

“Isn’t that coincidence? So am I,” Kim riposted with confidence as she put her hands up, balling them into tight fists.

Shego decided to call Kim’s bluff and dashed at her. The moss-hued warrior leaped into her attack, coming at Kim with a powerful claw strike. Shego had nails that were close to an eagle’s talons and she had come very close to tearing into Kim’s throat with them on that first assault, but Kim dodged.

The redhead went to counterattack with some well-placed punches, which Shego dodged. Kim kept coming with hers until Shego countered and tried to cut her face off. Kim leaped back and then had to avoid a swarm of shuriken being thrown by Shego at an incredible speed. The younger warrior sought refugee behind a tree and breathed a sigh of relief as she heard a bunch of projectiles pinned into the wood.

“That isn’t going to work,” Shego practically cooed as she seemed to manifest in front of the younger female. 

Kim jumped into the tree to avoid being peppered by four-pointed throwing stars. Shego followed her into the tree and kicked her out of it before Kim had a chance to totally settle onto a branch. The samurai righted herself in the air and landed on her feet. She immediately had to flip away from her landing space as more shuriken rained down on her. How many of those damnable things did the bodyguard have?! 

“Quick little thing,” Shego muttered.

Kim stood up right when the assault ended. She put her hands up to be on guard for when Shego came at her again. She looked around and did not see any sign of the emerald-eyed bodyguard. She knew that the older woman was around somewhere, though. 

“Peek-a-boo,” Shego remarked and she was about to kick Kim hard in the ribs from the back right, but the redhead surprisingly blocked.

“I see you,” Kim replied as she countered and kicked Shego right in the chest.

Shego coughed as the blow landed and she flew back. She was able to catch herself and threw her hands up to defend herself properly as Kim came in for a second attack. The raven-haired fighter could not believe how fast the little redhead was. Her hands were almost a blur and Shego knew if she was just a little less of a warrior than she was, Kim would have destroyed her easily. It was rather extraordinary.

Kim would have concurred with that thought. She could not believe someone was keeping up with her hands and blocking her attacks. It was not something that happened often and it certainly did not happen for a long time, over a minute was a long time. It was something that amazed her.

They were both in a sort of shock. The shock was not so severe that they were no longer battling. No, they continued with their fight as fiercely as they could. They did not care about how incredible things seemed. They were out for theirs. They wanted things and they would have them, even if it was at the cost of the other, even though they had both felt such a connection before. Nothing mattered aside from winning.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the fight goes on.

-8-8-8-8-

Ninjato: ninja sword. It’s not as long as a katana, but it’s longer than a wakazashi (the short sword samurai carry). It’s also a straighter blade and usually held straight ahead so that the opponent cannot tell its exact length. It’s also possibly a myth or something made to sell movies.

Bonus gallery pictures by [YogurthFrost](http://yogurthfrost.deviantart.com/): [HB Fight try out](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/Sketch-HB-Fight-try-out-48172721) and [Please Run... Please hear me](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/Please-Run-Please-hear-me-48310718). Please, leave all comments for the artist at deviantart.


	15. Sheer Force of Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

15: Sheer Force of Will

Kim and Shego ran at each other and met in a flurry of fists. Their vicious fists slammed against each others’ cheeks with unimaginable force, bruising their faces, but that did not stop them. They continued on fighting, disbelieving the battle they were engaged in, but slowly growing to love it. 

They were both unaccustomed to fighting for so long. They usually ran through opponents, no matter how many there were. Battles usually only lasted a minute or so, but they had been going at each other for about a half hour and they could not see an end to it. Time would not have mattered if they at least knew each other as warriors or respected each other as warriors when the combat began, but that had not been the case. They had not entered the battle with a mutual respect for each other as fighters.

Shego had been impressed with the samurai’s skill for a moment. But, then she remembered she was upset and desired so much to destroy the girl before her. She was so furious with Kim and with herself. The redhead had lied to her and she had fallen for it; she was not sure which one upset her more. The longer she fought Kim, the more she thought about what happened and it played in her head, stuck in a loop.

She had stupidly assumed she had gone out and made a friend of some kind. She had even been nice to the girl, taking her outside when she was stuck in the teahouse. She even took the girl to her own special, secret spot. She had shared her most private space with the teen and discussed the stars with her, opening up slightly, but more so than she ever had with someone in recent years.

She had even felt sorry for the kid. She thought the teen was a prisoner, trapped in a gilded cage and too frightened to fly away. But, it was not even like that. Her emotions had been wasted on a lie! Her emotions had been brought out because of a damned liar. It was unacceptable and infuriating and she just waited to wrap her hands around that light, slender neck of her opponent and snap it! Unfortunately, her opponent did not seem for that idea and kept avoiding her attacks.

The worst part was that she had worried about Kim, not that she acknowledged that was the worst part. She had even wanted to help the olive-eyed kid, though on a conscious level she was not sure why that was. She just figured it was because she had grown to like the girl; maybe like one would like a stray puppy, she considered. There was something about the redhead she had connected with in a way that made her care about the petite girl, even if she did not want to acknowledge or admit to it. She had thought the girl was in a bad position in life and she had wanted to change that because of the connection that she felt, but it turned out that the girl was just a spy.

That connection was the reason for her being so angry, hurt, and betrayed. She thought it was something they shared, but finding out the teen was a spy and probably just acting back then made it all seem like a lie. It was as if her mind and heart had been toyed with. She did not appreciate being played by this kid, a kid. It did not help that this was a kid she liked, that she had meaningful conversations with, that she had shared laughs with, that she had felt so comfortable with. 

Kim was trying to focus on solely on the fight, but there were some emotions going on inside of her. Mostly, she was confused. She could not believe the bodyguard was a woman, first of all. That should have changed the way Kim thought of her, at least that was what the redhead believed. But, it did not change a thing.

When she looked at her opponent, she still saw Yojimbo-san. She saw a person who had been so kind to her and someone who she believed she understood. She saw the person she felt at peace with, even if she was doing things like serving the bodyguard drinks or playing the dreaded shamisen. She still felt the same now as she had then.

She wished Yojimbo-san would talk things out with her, but every time she opened her mouth to say something, the bodyguard would up her effort ten-fold. It was like the sound of her voice angered the green-skinned warrior beyond reasoning. It would seem Yojimbo-san honestly wanted her to die on the battlefield. Well, she would not oblige. She would win the battle and attempt to set things straight after that. She would not be able to live with herself if her relationship with Yojimbo-san ended so sourly with the bodyguard wishing a painful death upon her.

They continued to go at each other, neither showing signs of weakness, even though they were pushing their bodies to new limits against another person. It seemed like no matter what they did, the other had a way to counter the moves, which dragged the battle out. They were not about to give up, though.

 _I’m not losing this_ , Shego told herself as she and Kim backed away for a moment to catch their breath and rethink some attacks. She could not believe the strength of the teen and that muscled in on her anger, but her fury would not give way. She still wanted to do away with Kim.

 _Why am I doing this?_ Kim asked herself. _What will happen once I do win_ , she asked herself. Would Yojimbo-san actually hear her out if she defeated the moss-hued warrior? She was not even sure what she wanted to say if that was the case. _So, really, why am I doing this_ , she silently asked again. _Why am I here? What do I want?_

“Samurai-san, this is the end of this fight,” Shego informed Kim. She was done playing around with the teen, she told herself. She had to think of it as “playing” for the sake of her pride since someone who could not be much older than her youngest brothers was seriously keeping up with her and working her over to a certain extent.

“What makes you say that?” Kim asked, trying to keep her breathing under control.

“Because you’re tired and I can do this.” Shego flared her hands.

Olive eyes went wide. Kim could not believe what she was seeing. Was the bodyguard some kind of demon or spirit? No matter, she told herself. She had yet to meet anyone, be they human, demon, or otherwise who could best her in a fight. She would not run from a little fire, especially if it stood in the way of her clearing the air with the bodyguard. _We cannot part on bad terms_ , she told herself. 

More determination burned in Kim’s belly. She was doing _this_ , chasing Yojimbo-san and fighting with Yojimbo-san because they could _not_ part as enemies. She would stay standing and she would win because she wanted to save some part of that connection they had.

“I’ll give you a sporting chance, if you run away right now, I’ll let you have a ten second head start,” Shego said in an even tone.

Shego was actually mocking her opponent. It would please her if the redheaded warrior ran. It would make it all the more fun when she finally caught the girl and utterly destroyed her. She wanted Kim to feel every drop of agony that she was feeling, yet denying. She would punish the little redhead for making her feel so completely betrayed and totally used. 

But, Kim did not run. She stood her ground because she never ran from anyone in her life and she was not about to start now. Besides, she had other reasons for standing her ground, which included wanting to save them, their connection. So, she dug in.

Shego frowned since her opponent was not sprinting away. She started counting out loud backwards from ten, hoping to show Kim that she meant business and to frighten the girl into fleeing. Kim did not even flinch. 

Part of Shego dared to consider she wanted the girl to run, so she would have an excuse to let her get away. It was a part of her that she still ignored because she wanted so badly to completely detest the redhead. But that part, small as it may be, wanted Kim to get away, wanted to let the person she connected so deeply with to live. Feeling that tiny part inside of her only enraged the pale woman all the more. How could she still positively consider someone who had done such things to her?

“Fine, have it your way!” Shego snarled and she launched herself at Kim.

The petite warrior dodged some rather forceful, flaming slash moves. She could tell in the attacks themselves that Shego was beyond livid with her. She wished that was not the case. She just made sure to keep avoiding the strikes because it was clear Shego would not mind killing her at this point.

“Stand still, you little gnat!” Shego roared, practically tearing at Kim.

Kim dipped out of the way. “Try and make me,” she smirked.

Shego could not believe the gall of this girl! More than that, she could not believe she could not hit the girl and that just upset her more. She hated Kim so much right now. She loathed she was so emotionally injured and she just wanted to forget that any of her time with the teen even happened. She wanted to just take the kid down and never think about her ever again. She wanted to forget she dared to become someone’s friend or to think of someone as her friend.

 _People are clowns here to amuse me_ , Shego told herself. Drakken was a clown to her and that was why she stuck with him. That was how it was supposed to be and that was how all people were supposed to be to her if she stuck around them. She had stuck around “Akako” and she had actually felt something for the brat that she never bothered to identify. She had not thought it needed a name as long as she could continue spending time with “Akako.” She had not even really noticed the “something” when she was around “Akako.” She just knew she always felt relaxed and just all around good when she was in the redhead’s company. It was almost like there was nothing to worry about or nothing truly wrong in the world when she was with “Akako.”

She just wanted to make the damnable teenager go away now. She could then pretend their time together never happened, that she never held emotions toward someone before. She feared she would go mad if she could not forget.

Kim was dead set against allowing that to be reality. She would not be forgotten, their connection would not be slain out of existence as long as she continued to breathe! It never entered her conscious mind, but whatever she had with the bodyguard was quite precious to her, enough for her to stare death in the emerald eye and stave off the force with her own powerful will.

Shego snarled like an angry beast as she went at Kim again with another attack. The redhead decided she better just counter at some point in time if she did not want to die. So, after her next dodge, she went into attack mode.

The pale woman was shocked when Kim’s fist came at her and she almost did not get out of the way in time because of her surprise. She had to get over her surprise very quickly because the samurai caught coming. Shego threw up her hands to block a punch, only to be hit with a kick. She growled, infuriated from being hit.

The raven-haired fighter countered and lashed out at Kim with her glowing claws. The redhead jumped back and put her hands up to block, forgetting she was not in a regular fight. She was cut across her arms with claws and plasma. She hissed in pain and her body reacted of its own accord. Shego came in for another hit and Kim kicked out automatically with all of her might to keep her opponent back.

The blow landed and Shego fell back, feeling like she had been hit with a tree truck. Kim decided to keep going and she dashed over with a fury of kicks since her arms were now injured with scratches and burns. Shego was dazed by the time the kicks stopped and she bled from her nose and lip.

The older female did not let her slight injures stop her and went back at Kim. The redhead blocked again when it was necessary, like when she was not able to totally avoid the strikes against her. But, she made sure to become offensive as soon as she had the chance. She made her main attacks with kicks, but came in with hand strikes, too, to throw her opponent off.

Shego quickly got over her shock when the hand attacks came, but it had taken a toll on her by the time she did. At least she knew she gave as good as she got, but she wanted that bitch of a redhead to go down by her hands. She would have to do something drastic, so she could still get away and achieve her goal of slaying the tramp against her. Yes, through all of her fury and hatred, she had not forgotten she needed to get away. There was no telling who this damned spy had led to her, after all.

The green-skinned warrior waited for an opening and planned to fall back on her ninjutsu to hit a pressure point on her opponent. She was going to go for the throat. She was aware that if she did the move just right, she would kill Kim. And when her moment came, she took it. Only problem was… she missed.

Kim dodged the move just in time, dipping underneath Shego’s in coming hand. The next thing went in slow motion for Shego. Kim came in for as many torso hits with her fists as she could get. In fact, when she started, she did not stop. Shego took a wild, flaming swing, trying to get Kim away from her.

The redhead backed away, but she just came back right in with powerful kick moves. Shego blocked and went to attack again. Kim pushed Shego’s hand away to throw off her attack and came it with a killer kick, letting loose a fierce battle cry as she did so. She caught Shego right across the head and sent the older woman to the ground.

Shego could not believe the force she was pretty much clobbered with and also could not believe she could not get up. She was exhausted and the world got a little blurry. After a few seconds, she was unconscious.

The redheaded samurai dropped to her knees, sucking in air as if she had just been drowning. Her lungs burned and her body ached, throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She was not sure if she would be able to move for a while. She had never had such a draining battle in all her short life. She was not even sure how she was still up, except for the fact that she never went down. She refused through sheer force of will.

A thunderclap then echoed through the woods. Kim sucked her teeth as she raised her head to look at the sky. There were thick grey clouds gathering and she knew that it was going to rain. _Great_ , she thought. _Just great_.

As soon as Kim got sarcastic in her own mind, another thunderclap sounded and she could see lightning in the distance. She forced herself to her feet and staggered over to Shego. She struggled to lift the heavier woman up and then dragged the unconscious woman along, seeking out some place to settle down before the downpour that was sure to come was on them.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego regained conscious and the first thing that she noticed was that her clothing was wet. It went beyond sweating from the battle. She wondered why that was and then she noticed she was in a cave. She looked at the opening of the cavern, which was a couple of yards away, and saw why she was probably in the cave, not to mention why her clothes were wet. But now, it begged the question of how she got in the cave and out of the rain?

She looked around and got her answer. Lying opposite her, a few feet away, was Kim. The redhead was unconscious and shivering in her sleep. At the sight, her heart thumped a little, which made her scowl.

“If the kid’s too stupid to get warm before falling asleep, it’s no skin off my ass. I don’t care about the damned lying, traitor,” she grumbled.

She could not and would not attack the kid, though. She was too worn out from the earlier fight and she would never attack an opponent that was not conscious. Telling herself that she did not care about the obviously freezing samurai only happened for a moment, though.

Shego could not take her eyes off of the olive-eyed warrior and eventually moved over to her. She lifted the girl into her arms and held onto her to warm her up. She figured it was the least she could do since Kim had not left her out in the rain. _Maybe she’s not totally bad_ , she considered.

“But, I’m just doing this to repay her for bringing me in here,” she said aloud, needing to justify her actions as if that made her words true.

She looked down at the knocked-out redhead. The petite warrior was starting to show bruises from their battle. Her injures on her arms, the scratch marks from Shego’s claws, were no longer bleeding, but they were not scabbing over yet. There were also a few burn marks because of her plasma and as she looked at them, she realized she had been holding back on the deadly energy, even though Kim had been avoiding her hits. If she had really been going after Kim, she would have been able to cut through the girl’s limbs with her plasma working at full force. 

“I didn’t mean to hold back, so why did I?” Maybe she did not want the teen dead, she thought since she had subconsciously held back her full power.

Her emerald eyes fell onto the samurai’s hands. She looked at those small, slender hands. Those were the hands that pulled her out of chilling rain. Those were the hands that had taken her on and bested her. Those were the hands that beat her and proved her declaration foolish. Those were the hands that were going to make her go back to Edo and to face the Shogun.

She could not believe such a young warrior had beaten her. Looking at her, Kim seemed so unassuming, which she guessed made the kid the perfect spy. But, having a closer look, she could see the training marks on the girl. She had never bothered to look too much at the redhead before, just preferring to sit there, talk with her, and listen to her play the shamisen. Besides, she had been hidden underneath the elaborate formal kimono and makeup of a maiko.

She shook her head. She could have adored this kid so much, she considered. She had enjoyed being around her so much when she thought Kim was just a harmless maiko, so much so that she would have probably tried to give the teen anything that she wanted. But now, she just detested feeling so close to the girl and liking her. She loathed whatever it was inside of her that connected her with the maiko and made her want to be around the redhead. She despised whatever it was that made her wish she could just take Kim away from it all and keep her all to herself and nothing in the world would ever matter. She just detested Kim and how she had ruined the good feeling she had once brought Shego.

Added to the fact that the girl turned out to be a spy, there was the fact that she had beaten Shego in a fight that bothered the green-skinned warrior quite a bit. Shego always considered herself the ultimate warrior. She knew several forms of martial arts and she had her special powers — her plasma, her claws, and strength beyond that of any normal person. She thought no matter what she would be able to take on anyone and destroy that person if the whim overcame her, but then came Kim.

“This is so absurd,” she muttered as she stared at the petite samurai. 

It was almost laughable the girl had defeated her, she thought. She was close to being amused by the circumstances that she was faced with, the irony of it all. How she, the ultimate warrior, had fallen to a slender little girl. But, she was still so angry over everything that happened that she just could not find it in herself to be amused by this situation. Someone who she wished would just die and stop haunting her (and hurting her) with her existence had defeated her. For some reason, it felt like being defeated several times instead of just once.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kim started showing signs of regaining consciousness. She watched with an interested expression as the redhead yawned and opened her eyes. For some reason that neither of them knew, Kim smiled when she locked eyes with Shego, as if she had forgotten all of the bad blood between them like a raging river. They were still and quiet for a brief second and then Shego practically tossed Kim out of her lap.

“Ow, what was that for?” the young samurai asked as she hit the ground. She banged her forehead on a rock and split her eyebrow open.

Shego felt a ping of guilt course through her when she saw the wound that was on Kim’s head. The younger warrior did not seem to mind it much and just used her sleeve to wipe away any blood that made its way into her eye. Kim sat up and faced Shego, who turned her head away. The gesture caused the redhead to frown slightly. The bodyguard was still angry with her.

Kim supposed it was a good sign that the bodyguard had not run away or killed her since she had passed out and the pale woman had woken before she did. She had not meant to lose consciousness when she found the cave, but some things could not be helped. She had gone beyond her limit by holding up Shego’s unconscious form when looking for shelter from the rain and her body simply gave out once she got them both into the semi-dry space.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Shego sneered. Great, now she was pissed because she felt guilty for injuring the redhead again. _You hate the girl anyway, so it shouldn’t matter_. But, some part of her still seemed to think Kim was “Akako-chan,” she realized. Some part of her still wanted to connect to the redhead and even though she tried to ignore that part of her, it was clear it had some kind of control over her.

“Yojimbo-san… are you mad at me?” Kim asked in a small voice. A piece of her was hurt because the answer to that was so obvious. The bodyguard had talked about slaying her earlier, after all. She did not want the bodyguard to be upset with her. She wanted them to be as they were before, if that was possible. She at least wanted them to be able to get along as civilized beings.

“Gee, what makes you say that?” Shego huffed, making sure not to make eye contact with the other warrior. 

Kim did not respond to that at first. She pushed herself up against the wall that was opposite Shego, which made her positioned where she had left Shego when they first came into the cave. She folded her legs underneath her and glanced outside the cavern opening.

It was raining much harder than it had been when it first started. She supposed she lucked out when she came across the cave because as far as she knew there was not a settlement around for a while. It had taken a lot of effort to carry Shego since she had been dead weight thanks to her unconscious state. As soon as she had put Shego down in the cave, she passed out without even thinking she might never wake up, either due to her own exhaustion or Shego possibly fulfilling her dark desire. She just could not do any more than she had already done.

“Yojimbo-san…Okay, I know you’re mad at me. I mean, if that got anymore obvious, I’d have your sword stuck in my torso somewhere. Oh, speaking of your sword, I’ve got it for you,” Kim said and she pulled the weapon from her obi. She held the weapon out for the pale woman.

Shego first pretended she was not interested in the weapon. She then glanced at the sword and left it floating in limbo for a few more seconds. And then she snatched the weapon without a word. She made sure not to look at Kim and not to think anything of the gesture of how the teen not only carried her out of the rain, but also retrieved her weapon. The kid seemed so thoughtful, but she was actually just an inu and she did not think it was fair that growing parts of her was trying to only consider Kim was actually kind. _It’s just an act_ , she reminded herself. It was all an act. It was an act by a trained inu of the Shogunate.

“Yeah, didn’t expect a thanks,” Kim muttered with a frown. “I know you think I’m just a rotten spy for the Shogun, but believe it or not, I’m not a spy and I didn’t want to do that job. I sort of volunteered for it before I knew what I was supposed to be doing,” she explained, hoping it would at least get the bodyguard to look at her. She would tell the truth with the hope it mended their broken bonds and kept them linked in some form.

Emerald eyes rolled accompanied by a loud scoff. “Yeah, I believe that.”

“I was sincere in my time with you,” Kim admitted in a low voice, her face burning just a little. It was slightly embarrassing to confess, but she felt it needed to be said. She needed it known she was not totally lying and she was not completely acting. 

Kim had enjoyed her time with Shego, even though they both seemed to be lying to each other in some form. The only thing was that Kim knew to some extent that Shego was misrepresenting herself. She had not known that Shego was a woman, but that did not come close to her being a spy for the Shogun and trying to get information from someone who saw her as a friend. Other than that though, they seemed to be being themselves with each other, honest and open, bare to each other in ways they never were with other people. At least, Kim knew that was true for her, but she could feel that it was true for the other warrior also.

“Keep lying,” Shego replied in a snippy tone. She did not want to hear anything from the little liar, especially since that rebellious part in her dared to believe Kim’s words. She would not be fooled a second time, she promised herself. 

“I was,” the samurai insisted in earnest.

“You know, you don’t have to talk to me anymore. I already agreed to go back with you, so you can shut up now,” Shego snapped.

Shego did not want to hear anything from the little brat. She was a liar and more venomous than any snake that Shego had come across. She had no reason to believe anything that came out of the girl’s mouth now and she had no reason to believe Kim had been sincere in the past. She would go back to Edo as promised, so she thought that should shut the little Shogunate hound up.

“I wasn’t looking to hurt you or make a fool out of you or anything like that,” Kim continued on. 

“Well, good work since that didn’t happen,” Shego replied, still not looking at the redhead.

Kim sighed, sounding close to defeated, but she certainly was not going to give up, not when she had the chance to clear everything up. She wished the conversation was going a little better. She wished the bodyguard did not see it as all her fault. Everything that happened was something beyond them and they were both wheels in a cog. They added to the problem, but she was not the cause of the problem.

“You know, I’m not the only one in this cave who did something wrong,” Kim pointed out because of her frustration.

“What are you trying to say, dog of the Shogun?” Shego inquired with some anger in her voice because she would be damned if she was going to sit there and let some bitch of the Shogun judge her.

“First of all, I’m not a dog of the Shogun,” Kim stated strongly. She had never done a mission just because the Shogun ordered it and she never would. She needed reasons to make her move, good reasons, not just because the Shogun wanted it done. 

“Right, you just volunteered for the job before you knew what you were going to do. You’re telling me that you wouldn’t have done it if you were told to do point blank?” Shego asked in a skeptical tone. She felt the kid was lucky they had already had their determining battle and she had made that stupid promise to go back to Edo with the teen because if she had not done that, she would have rushed to the other side of the cave to behead the lying tramp. Well, she would have tried anyway, but with the way that her body felt, she probably would not have been able to do such a feat.

“I wouldn’t have,” Kim proclaimed firmly, as if that was the stone cold truth and nothing would be able to break it. “Can you say the same thing about what you were doing?” she countered.

Shego was silent for a couple of seconds. She was not even looking at Kim, but she could tell from the girl’s strong voice that she was telling the truth. Kim would not have been a spy if she knew what she was being recruited for. The pale woman chuckled a little and Kim was not sure how she should take the sound.

“No, I can’t say the same thing. I went along with idiots with my eyes wide open. I enjoyed it,” Shego replied.

She remembered how Kim was being a maiko. It was clear she had not enjoyed it. Shego had assumed it was because Kim was being forced into the lifestyle and she was partially correct. Kim had been so uncomfortable and Shego considered maybe she had not been acting. She just had not been sure why, but now, she figured she knew the reason, or at least one of the reasons.

“You might be mad at me, but you have to remember I could be mad at you, too,” Kim commented softly. 

Shego scoffed once more and rolled her eyes again. “I don’t care.” It was a lie. 

The samurai could tell that was not true. Shego just wanted to be standoffish. They had a connection back when they were both playing roles and Kim knew that she did not want that connection to break. Somewhere deep inside of Shego, a part she was trying her best to ignore, also did not want the connection to go away and it was almost like Kim could see that part as she started her next few sentences.

“I really was sincere in my time with you and I appreciated your company. I know you were sincere, too, which is why I don’t hold any of this against you. I liked being around you. I still like being around you,” Kim admitted.

“Yeah, because this cave is just a great place to be,” Shego replied. But, it was this was not as biting as she could have been. It was like there was a crack and now Kim had to chip away at it. 

Kim squared her shoulders, ready for her next battle. She would have to dig deep if she wanted to get the bodyguard to not only stop being upset with her, but to trust her again. So, first, she needed to get “Yojimbo-san” to tell Kim her true name.

“I don’t… I don’t want to lose this connection,” Kim whispered.

Shego gasped as her eyes went wide and her heart thumped in her chest. The teen felt their connection, too? Shego shook it away. _No, it doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t change anything_. 

“I don’t connect with a lot of people,” Kim confessed. To be honest, even though Kim would not admit to herself, the connection she felt to Shego was different compared to the ones she felt to her friends and family. She had never experienced it before and it was something she could not describe, just knowing it was a positive and good thing. “So, I can’t… I _won’t_ let you throw this away.”

A twinge cut through Shego’s stomach. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something snarky and tear Kim down, but the words could not come. She squirmed in her seat for a moment, which did not go unnoticed.

Shego wished the samurai would stop reaching out to her. The more Kim reached, the more Shego remembered how much she enjoyed being around the redhead and the more her anger conceded to their bond. She then had to remind herself that she liked the redhead back when she was “Akako-chan” and not some filthy inu to try to keep her fury burning.

Kim decided to keep going since she noticed that Shego was getting fidgety. The pale woman fought with herself to not glance over at Kim, which the samurai could see because those emerald eyes were wandering all over the cave now. Those emerald eyes stopped when they were in her direction for just a piece of a second, but they were focused on the ground.

“You know, if you’d just give me a chance, you’d know I mean this. I enjoyed being around you. And I like you so much that I’d even play the shamisen if you’d just forgive me for being a spy,” Kim seemed to plead. She knew that sounded rather ridiculous, but if Shego could read her well, she figured it should work.

Shego cracked a smile before she could stop herself. She wished she had her mask to cover that up. It was not just because she knew Kim hated playing the shamisen, but it was her choice of words. She had actually asked forgiveness for being a spy. It seemed like an odd thing to request.

There was also the tone of her voice. Kim sounded near desperate to her and it was something she could relate to. She understood Kim was trying to retrieve and revive some part of what they had and she wanted that. Hell, she _needed_ it. It seemed like Kim needed it, too. She was not alone… and that was something Akako-chan had always given her.

They needed each other and what they gave each other, even if they did not want to acknowledge the connection itself. Or really what the connection was. They had to accept its existence and allow it to repair the damage done because they needed that in order to feel at peace again.

Shego turned her attention to Kim. The redhead took that as a good sign. Plus, the pale woman’s eyes had changed. It was like something was gone, but something was back at the same time. Kim was not sure what it was, but it caused her body to finally release tension she felt since the siege. 

Shego’s body also felt just a little better. There was something about Kim that told Shego that, even though Kim had turned out to be a spy, she was still “Akako-chan,” even though she had a different name and everything. She was fairly sure Kim had been honest with her when they were together. Their bond was real, not some act.

“You’d have to serve sake, too,” Shego remarked.

Kim smiled at that. “I would,” she vowed. But, she was not sure if that meant she was forgiven. Did her friendship mean as much to Shego as Shego’s friendship meant to her? She supposed only time would tell. She then shivered as a cold breeze blew into the cave; Shego noticed.

“Come here,” the pale woman ordered. 

“Huh?” Kim asked, shocked by the harsh sounding command.

“Come here,” Shego repeated just as hard as the first time.

The samurai was not sure why, but she complied with the order. She crawled over to Shego, who snatched the teenager up and embraced her. Kim was a bit stunned by the move and she blushed, which Shego took note of. The emerald-eyed woman smiled just a little bit and held Kim close. It felt good. 

Shego was not sure how, but she managed to hold in a content sigh. Maybe there still was a chance for her to adore the girl, Shego considered. Maybe there was room for forgiveness in her heart, not that she ever thought such a thing was possible.

Shego carried grudges for a long time; it made her a horrible Buddhist. Yet, some unidentified emotions had just defeated her anger and her grudge. She supposed she might want to work on figuring out exactly how such a powerful connection worked before she ended up at the mercy of a girl she already thought she could adore.

“You’re really warm, Yojimbo-san,” Kim commented in a low voice when she realized that she was warming up faster than expected while being in the arms of the older woman. 

“Shego.”

Kim’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“My name is Shego, so you can stop calling me ‘Yojimbo-san,’ especially since the guy I was a bodyguard for is probably dead,” Shego explained in a plain tone. She tried not to think about that blue idiot.

“Oh…” Kim muttered, looking away.

Shego was unaware Drakken was captured, but she would not have put it passed him to have either died in that huge fire or to have been captured, meaning he was probably crucified by now. Kim was inclined to agree he was probably dead by now, if Betty and her people had arrived at Edo anyway. It had been about a week, give or take a day in her opinion, so they might not be in Edo yet. Still, his death was inevitable.

“I’m sorry,” Kim mumbled. She was sorry to have caused the bodyguard any grief over the death of her master, if Shego felt as such anyway. She was willing to bet Shego felt something over the death of the inventor. She had been working for him as his personal bodyguard, after all. 

“Don’t be. I’m not. Everyone should be prepared for the consequences of their actions,” Shego replied in an even tone. She would mourn for Drakken, she supposed, but not outwardly. He needed to be prepared to die; that was how the life of an outlaw was.

Kim nodded in agreement. “But, I’m sorry that you lost someone.”

“Don’t be,” Shego repeated. She was not sure if would be able to take Kim’s condolences right now. She was already raw from their interaction. This might actually break her. 

Kim remained silent and curled up closer to Shego, which the raven-haired female noticed of course. They both told themselves that the action was done because Kim was looking for more warmth, but that did not explain why they both blushed from the action. They tried not to admit to themselves how comfortable it all was. 

They were quiet for a long while and quite settled into their positions. It reminded them of back when they were alone at the teahouse. They actually felt that same soothing and calm feeling, letting them know things had not changed between them, even though they now knew what each was. It was like everything was at peace and right, like they belonged near each other.

And then they both realized that sooner or later, they would have to break apart. They would have to return to Edo. Nothing could come of them anyway if the feelings experienced meant anything. All they had to be at peace with each other as they were was their time in the cave right now. Well, maybe it would never stop raining and their time would last forever.

“I think… the sound of the rain will always haunt me now,” Kim admitted in a whisper. 

“Shh… it’s soothing,” Shego replied and she just held Kim closer. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the rain continues and things heat up as they decide just what their feelings are.

Bonus gallery picture by [Sapphicspencil](http://sapphicspencil.deviantart.com/): [Honor Bound - The Cav](http://sapphicspencil.deviantart.com/art/Honor-Bound-The-Cave-47604091)e. Please, leave comments for the artist at deviantart.


	16. Identity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

16: Identity

The rain continued to pour down. It was nighttime by now and that was only noticeable because it was darker than before. Shego still held onto Kim, who was sleeping rather soundly; so much so it would probably creep the teenager out if she was aware of it. Shego stared at the redhead. 

“You did something to me,” she quietly accused the teen.

It was not something negative or physical. It was not even something she was upset over… anymore. It was an internal something, but Shego did not know what it was exactly because she had never felt something like it before. She knew whatever it was, it had made her angrier at Kim than any other person that she had been in her whole life, and that was something considering how often and easily she lost her temper. But, it was that same thing that had allowed her to forgive Kim when the samurai requested it. It was something she believed was strange, especially since she could not identify it exactly.

“What have you done to me, little one?” Shego wondered, resisting the urge to wipe Kim’s hair from her face.

She should still be upset with Kim for being a spy. But, she just did not have it in her once the teen asked for forgiveness. It was like she had been waiting for that moment, so she could surrender and it could all be over.

She had been considering forgiving Kim before the redhead even asked. It was just that Kim had admitted to enjoying spending time with her, acknowledged they shared some kind of bond, and she knew Kim spoke in earnest. She could just see it in those eyes and how they pled with her to keep what they had. It had done something to her, touching points inside of her that did not want their bond to die either. It overwhelmed all of her anger, quelling the negative emotion like an animal trainer did with performing dogs.

“Does this really mean so much to me to have a friend?” 

She guessed so. She had friends when she was a child, but she did not feel the same way about them as she felt about Kim. She had not really had a friend as an adult, so maybe this was how things were. She figured maybe adults felt different about comrades than children did and that made sense to her. The world was different from childhood to adulthood. So, why would friendship not be the same?

An eerie voice in the back of her mind scoffed at the notion, mocking her. _You know why you gave in_. It knew why she had silently begged to yield and why she always would as long as that invisible connection between her and the redhead existed. 

Shego tried to shake the thoughts away and refocused on Kim, checking for any signs of discomfort. She held the girl to keep her warm since they were stuck in a drafty cave in what seemed to be a mini-typhoon, she thought. It was coming down out there like someone was pouring the ocean on the land. The winds howled like lonely wolves and blew into the cave on occasion. It did not look like the weather would break anytime soon either. She did not mind that and it was an excellent excuse to keep Kim close to her. 

The redhead seemed to read her thoughts and snuggled in closer for more heat. The raven-haired woman nearly smiled because of the action. She liked having Kim pressed against her, feeling safe enough to sleep so soundly in her arms, trusting her enough to protect her from the winds, rains, and any other enemy that dared to vex them. She could hardly believe she had even considered killing the teen earlier that afternoon. It seemed unreal.

 _Maybe it’s deeper than a friendship_ , Shego considered because of the voice in the back of head. She just had never felt anything like it to know just what it was precisely. As she looked at the peaceful expression on Kim’s visage, she thought about it more. Maybe it was much deeper than a friendship. After all, why would she feel like kissing a friend? 

Throughout her life, she had had such attractions. At first, she thought they were perfectly normal. It was logical to her that a girl could be attracted to another girl. After all, boys were attracted to girls, so obviously there must be something really nice about girls.

The idea entered her mind because she had always been a daddy’s little girl. She had idolized her father for much of her life. Whatever her father did was the ideal for her and her father had been attracted to her mother. Her father was attracted to women. It had to be best to be attracted to women, she concluded based on that information. She remembered when she first told her father that and he laughed. How could she know then that he laughed because he thought she was being silly?

As she grew older, Shego had come to understand she was not supposed to be attracted to women, mostly through admonishments from her parents. It was through those reprimands she had come to think the attraction was wrong, for her anyway. She began focusing on men, believing that to be the right course of action since it was the opposite of what she had been doing. Her parents had even arranged a marriage for her, promising her she would like her husband because he was handsome. The marriage never actually happened — thank the gods — but, eventually she forgot about her earlier attraction. Well, she thought she had forgotten about it.

Maybe it had just been waiting under her skin for a moment like now. She had never really considered it because she had enjoyed just being free, living by her own rules. While doing that, she never considered any real encounters with a woman, though. Apparently, her parents scolding her had worked well and stuck with her. Now, things had changed. 

Shego took her hand and brought it up to Kim’s face. She caressed the redhead’s slightly chubby cheek. She had to be careful with her fingers because her nails, but she made sure to take extra-care while touching the younger warrior. Her face was soft, like lily petals.

“Is that it?” Shego asked herself. She was not too sure, but the voice in the back of her mind shut up when she got to that conclusion. 

 _I really thought I’d gotten over my attraction to females_. It had not even been an issue with her for almost fifteen years. She did not see why it was coming out now. She had not even considered it back when she thought that Kim was “Akako-chan.” There was something between now and then that changed that, but she could not figure out what it was.

Back when she thought that Kim was “Akako-chan,” yes, she thought the girl was adorable. It was hard not to think of the redhead that way back then. She was made up to look cute and then there was something about her reluctant performance as a maiko that Shego enjoyed. She supposed she just liked seeing people when they were uncomfortable and Kim had been extremely uncomfortable as a maiko, even when they had spent plenty of time together. There was just a charming quality about it.

She had been able to tell that Kim did not like being ordered around, which made sense now she knew Kim was a samurai. The younger woman was more than likely used to someone doing all of the things for her that she had been doing for Shego, especially pouring drink. _Ah well_ , it was still fun to watch her do it.

Being around Kim then had been fun in its own weird way, but it had not led her to consider she might be attracted to the redhead in what she had been told on many occasions was an inappropriate fashion. Although, she had never been given reasons as to why it was improper, not matter how many times she asked.

What changed the teenager from someone Shego thought was adorable and friendly to someone she might be attracted to? She figured if she thought on it some more, she would figure it out. It was not like she had anything better to do with her time.

Shego glanced outside of the cave and noticed it was not raining as hard as it had been a second ago. She considered she might go scout around while the rain was more of a drizzle than a pour. She eased Kim off of her, missing the small amount of weight already. She sighed and then left the cave.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, hoping to warm herself up. She then remembered she had been more than warm not too long ago. She opened her eyes, considering that if the warmth was gone, then Shego might be as well.

The olive-eyed female found out she was correct. Shego was gone and her body was assaulted by a million emotions. She immediately knew how she felt — hurt, betrayed, and angry. Shego would have found that ironic and amusing. She had halfway poured her heart out to Shego and the pale woman disarmed her with an embrace only to cut out as soon as she was asleep. What a worm! 

She sat up and crawled to the mouth of the cave. It was still raining, harder than she remembered. She sucked her teeth because of the weather. If Shego had gotten enough of a head start, the rain would wash away her tracks and make it harder to find her again. She did not care. She would find Shego and take her back to Edo by force if necessary if the older woman was just going to toy with her.

And then those thoughts faded as Shego came out of the dark and crawled back into the cave. This stunned Kim and she backed away to let the other warrior in the cavern. She hid the shock in her face while Shego sat down so close to her that Kim could feel the wonderful body heat of the raven-haired female. 

“You’re up. I thought you’d still be sleeping. I’ve been gone for a few minutes, after all,” Shego commented. She thought she would make a quick sweep of the area and then be back way before Kim’s body got cold enough to where she might not wake up from her little sleep. 

“Where’d you go?” the redhead asked, trying not to shiver. 

“I was hoping to find a village nearby. I mean, this rain doesn’t seem to be letting up and I’d rather not wait out the storm in a filthy cave,” Shego explained. It was pouring again and she was not sure this cave would be the best place for either of them. It could flood or get colder.

“Is there a village around?” Kim knew the answer to that, but for the first time hoped she was wrong.

“None from what I could see, but it’s dark. I found an abandoned house, though. So, come on,” Shego urged the younger warrior, putting out her hand.

Kim looked at the hand, almost like she did not know what it was. Really, it was a little hard to focus. She was taken back by the gesture, but she got over that rather quickly. She took the surprisingly small hand of Shego and allowed Shego to pull her close. The pale woman led her out of the cave.

While they went toward the house Shego discovered, Kim looked down at the hand holding hers and noted how she liked the sight. It was hard to believe that she had never noticed how feminine those hands were, but now she could see that they were similar to her own. The hand was not soft, but it still brought a continuous gentle wave of pleasantness through Kim. It was not like anything that she had ever felt and she did not want it to end.

How could a hand holding her own hand have such an affect on her, Kim wondered. She did not really get the chance to consider it because they came to the house rather quickly. It seemed like there was someone there in Kim’s opinion. She could tell from a window there was a fire going on in the place.

“Shego-san, are you sure someone doesn’t live there?” Kim asked.

“No one’s there,” Shego replied. “And don’t call me ‘Shego-san,’“ she added. She disliked like when perceived friends were formal with her and she had been that way since childhood. 

“But, that’s your name, right? And there’s a fire in there.”

“I started the fire. And my name is Shego, without the ‘san’ or any other honorific. Got it?” 

“Okay,” Kim replied.

Shego glanced back at the redhead, just to make sure she was all right. Kim was hunched over and drenched. Her movements were slow due to exhaustion. 

“Come on,” Shego urged her in a quiet tone.

They went into the little wooden shack and there was a fire going in the fire pit in the center of the one room house. Shego thought it would be best for the place to be warm for Kim when she showed up. She tried her best not to question why she was being so considerate, even though she had already gotten to thinking about it. Not to mention, part swore it already knew the answer. _Attraction doesn’t mean anything_ , Shego tried to assure herself.

They sat down on the wooden floor. The house was dry; well, it was drier than the cave anyway. It was also warmer than the cave, so Kim guessed her time curled up next to Shego was done. Ah, well, she reminded herself that all good things had to come to an end.

Now she was warmer and awake, though, Kim remembered her injuries from her battle with Shego earlier. Her whole body ached and burned, but the places really throbbing were the scratch marks. She pulled her sleeves up to inspect those to see that they were more like burns than regular slash marks. Well, that explained why they hurt more so than her other injuries.

“What are you doing?” Shego inquired when she noticed Kim staring at her arm.

“Nothing,” Kim replied, pushing her sleeve back down. 

Kim went into her pocket and pulled out a very small container. She opened it and then pulled her sleeve back up. Shego figured Kim was applying medicine to her burns.

“Let me do that for you,” Shego offered, figuring it might help ease her guilt for having harmed the samurai so much in the heat of anger.

Kim did not argue and handed over the container. It held a special balm her mother made for her since she suffered wounds every now and then. It came with being an active person and a warrior. Shego carefully applied the salve to each scratch mark on both of Kim’s arms.

The feel of Kim’s skin just under her fingertips made Shego swallow hard. She focused on her task, not wanting to look up to see if Kim noticed her reaction. She was so soft, though. But, not soft like women usually were. She could feel the hard muscles under velvet skin. It did not help that she noticed a slight flush to Kim’s features.

Shego had to take another breath and then doubled her effort on just doing this job. She did her best to make it as straightforward and clinical as she could. When she was done, she handed the cream back Kim, thankful her hand was not shaking.

Shego wanted to ask if Kim felt better, but her voice would not do it. She was glad that it had not done so because it made her remember that she was no longer dealing with a delicate little maiko anymore. She was in the presence of a masterful samurai, the muscles under her fingertips proved that, and she liked that more than thinking of Kim as a dainty maiko.

Kim turned her attention to Shego after she returned her balm to its place in her pocket and they just sort of stared at each other. They did not know what else to do. Moving from the cave might not have been the best idea, Shego considered. Now, they seemed a bit awkward around each other and they both disliked that, but were unsure of how to dispel the strange air around them.

But, it was best to get out of the cavern. Shego did not like the open cave and Kim was cold, things were better in the small shack, to a degree anyway. She had banked on Kim going back to sleep, too, and she could hold the girl again. But, it seemed like the girl was intent on staying awake now. So, in some ways, things were definitely worse than in the cave. 

In reality, Kim fell asleep in the cave by accident. She had been so comfortable and resting against Shego had been soothing. The rhythm of her breathing and the sound of her heart beating had been like a lullaby for Kim. Not to mention, Shego was so warm. Lying on a stiff, wooden floor just would not cut it after catching a nap against Shego.

“Shego-san… I mean, Shego, what now?” Kim asked. 

“What do you mean? We wait for the rain to stop and we get going to Edo, as promised,” Shego answered.

Olive eyes went wide. “You’re going to go back to Edo?”

“I gave you my word.” Shego gave a bit of a shrug to down play the significance of the matter. 

Kim nodded, seriously impressed. Shego had made an arrogant, hate-fueled boast when she promised to return to Edo before their fight, yet she stood by it. She was quite possibly going to go to her death, but she would keep her word. Kim knew that most people would have fled as soon as they had the chance, but Shego had the chance twice and only used one of those to go find better shelter. _Wow_.

“You should probably get some sleep. I don’t think that rain’s going to do stop anytime soon,” Shego commented. 

Kim was not sure what to say. Her body was rather weary and she would not mind getting some sleep, but she did not feel like it right now. She wanted to stay awake and she did not know why.

“Shego-san… I mean, Shego,” Kim corrected herself again. She looked away for a moment, sucking her teeth in embarrassment. 

The smart-aleck warrior laughed a bit at Kim’s reaction to her mistake. There was something about Kim, she silently noted for probably the millionth time now that she thought about. Almost everything she did was cute to Shego. She had never met anyone quite like Kim and she supposed that added in the fact that she could forgive the redhead for the whole spy thing. She had an inkling that the unnamed emotions that she held for the teenager was what made Kim cute in the first place. It was all so very odd, she thought.

“Yeah?” Shego replied.

“Um…” Kim was not too sure what she wanted to say, but she knew it would be too much. She looked away and licked her lips, wondering if she should chance her words. She might bring down Shego’s wrath again if she did. “I’m glad you’re not upset with me anymore,” she opted to confess.

Shego nodded, but she could see there was more underlying that statement from the look in those weary olive eyes. She realized that for her, those dark green eyes were windows into Kim’s mind and there was something Kim wanted to get out, but decided against. Something that was probably important. It was probably why the redhead had made that obvious admission. Well, Shego would try to get to that information because she wanted to know what it was now that she could see that it was there.

“And why is that?” the older warrior asked. 

“Well… um… because I like being around you,” Kim replied. That was just as obvious as her previous statement.

“So you’ve said,” Shego pointed out as if it was trivial information.

Kim nodded and then chewed the inside of her lip. _I did say that already_ , she reminded herself. Something inside of her compelled her to speak, but her mouth refused exactly what she wanted to say and her brain refused why she wanted to say it. It just had something to do with back when they were spending time in the teahouse. She believed she knew what it was. She did not want to say it and run the risk of having Shego irate with her all over again. _Swallow it down, Possible. Save what you can and swallow the rest_.

“You know I don’t think I ever thanked you for taking me out to that hill those couple of times,” the samurai said with a nervous grin. It was a dodge in Shego’s opinion.

“You have,” the super-powered warrior informed Kim.

“Oh.” The teen just laughed. 

It was an anxious sound, which Shego took note of and gave her a half-smirk to let her know. _Shimatta_ (damn), Kim cursed mentally. She told herself to either say what she felt necessary or to just shut up altogether before Shego started to think that there was something wrong with her. _Get it together, Possible_ , Kim ordered herself mentally.

Shego studied her companion, who looked like she was mentally fighting with herself. The older woman tried to figure out what Kim wanted to say. It was apparently something that she would rather dance around then bring up. She could not put her finger on what that might be. Was Kim looking to apologize again? No, that would not explain her nervousness.

“Maybe you should go back to sleep,” Shego suggested, if only so she did not have to look at the samurai’s twisted expression as she tried to get out what she wanted to say.

“I’m not really tired,” Kim replied. That was a lie. She had slept too soundly in the cave to be fine now. She was still exhausted, which Shego expected. They had a grueling battle and then the redhead had carried her body to that cave and she could only guess the distance between the combat zone to the cave. 

“You don’t trust me?” Shego gave her a taunting smile. It looked down right spooky in with the flames dancing and illuminating different parts of her face. Kim considered Shego’s face was what youkai (ghost, phantom, or an apparition) might look like.

“It’s not that,” Kim answered, which Shego knew anyway since Kim had already fallen asleep against her.

“Then you should go back to sleep.”

Kim was not sure how to protest the suggestion without sounding weird or like a ranting idiot because she was not sure why she did not want to go back to sleep. She ended up nodding in agreement since she could not think of a proper response. Her body would be grateful for the rest anyway.

The redhead lay down as close to the fire as she could without burning herself and tried to go to sleep. She ended up pretending to sleep, thinking if she did not do that then Shego might scold her for doing something idiotic, like staying awake when it was clear that she needed sleep. She was not sure why she thought that, but she was pretty right about that assumption.

Kim thought about what she had been trying to tell Shego and she could almost figure out exactly what it was. It frightened her a little bit as she realized it. There were so many things wrong with it and she just could not say it. What would Shego think, after all? She would certainly enrage the older woman again and she would rather not deal with that. 

Shego watched Kim for a few moments and then turned her attention to outside. She could still hear the rain coming down hard and the winds still bellowed to their hearts content. She guessed she could get some sleep, too. Her body would appreciate the rest just as much as Kim’s would. After all, she had been in the same fight.

Shego hit the deck and tried to go to sleep on the hardwood. While she rested on her side, she realized how much it hurt. Kim had really done a number on her. She chuckled internally; she had been pounded by a little kitsune (fox). She was aware Kim would take offense if she knew that was the thought in Shego’s mind about her defeat. Hey, maybe she was a fox spirit. It would explain why she won, in Shego’s opinion anyway. 

Shego glanced over her shoulder to look at Kim. She then looked at Kim’s shadow out of curiosity. It was too distorted to tell her anything, so she would have to swallow her pride and just admit an above average young samurai, an extraordinary samurai, beat her. At least it was Kim who defeated her. If anyone else had been able to pull off such a feat, they would rub it in her face for all eternity, especially Director Betty. Oh, that was going to be one smug bitch when they got back to Edo and turned herself in. She would rather be crucified than have to deal with that one-eyed annoyance.

She then turned her attention back to trying to go to sleep. Sleep did not seem to be coming, though. The floor was uncomfortable and something seemed to be missing to help her relax enough to go to sleep. She started thinking. She thought about how she had been holding Kim not too long ago and it had made her feel at peace. Maybe if she did that again, she would be able to sleep. Well, it was worth a shot and Kim would not know since she was asleep anyway. 

Shego silently got up and moved closer to Kim, which the redhead noticed as soon as Shego moved. Kim wondered what her companion was doing. She heard and felt Shego stop when the older woman was behind her. She did not worry, but she considered Shego was a little strange and then she felt an arm wrap around her waist. It took all of her self-control to continue feigning sleep and not react to the limb pulling her close to a warm body.

Shego sighed; _yeah, that certainly fells better_. She rested her head on top of her free arm, letting it act like a pillow; Kim could not do that since her arms since they were injured. Shego’s face was settled near the top of Kim’s head and close to being pressed right in Kim’s red-orange mane. She inhaled, taking in the samurai’s natural scent, which was buried underneath the layers of sweat, mud, and rain that she was coated in thanks to the day that they had. She smelled faintly of wild flowers. They both hardly stayed awake a minute after Shego had moved.

-*-(Next day)-*-

One of the two warriors evidently moved around in her sleep. Why was it obvious? Well, Shego was now on her back and Kim was spread out on top of her. So, either Shego rolled over from her side onto her back and took Kim with her since she had her arm around the olive-eyed teen or Kim turned around completely sometime in the night and caused Shego to fall over. They would never know because they would both deny they moved in their sleep later on.

For the moment, they both awakened at the same time. Kim was the first to stir, but Shego noticed the movement against her and that caused her to regain consciousness. They almost immediately noticed their situation. They would have noticed sooner, but they wondered why they had had such great sleeps and then came the awkward realization of how they were positioned. They both blushed, Kim more so than Shego. 

“Um… sorry!” Kim squeaked as she moved to get off of the elder warrior, but two things prevented that. One was the arm still around her waist flexed and held her in place. The other was the fact that Shego verbally halted her.

“Don’t move,” Shego sort of commanded/requested. It was a mix of the two and she hoped Kim would respond to one of them. 

“Why not?” the younger woman asked quietly, eyes scanning the perimeter. Maybe something was wrong. Was there a danger around or something? Nothing got her attention, aside from the strange way she was on Shego anyway.

“I like you right where you are,” Shego commented with a smirk. Hey, she could tell the truth, too. 

“I don’t understand,” the redhead replied.

Shego chuckled a bit. She did not expect Kim to understand. After all, how she felt right now, it was not normal. It was inappropriate, her parents told her that a million times at least. It would have surprised her to know that underneath it all, in a place that Kim was not too sure existed, she understood what was going on, which was why she remained.

“What’s there not to understand?” Shego teased. “I like you right where you are,” she repeated and she began caressing the younger woman’s back. 

Kim blushed even deeper. It seemed like she might have popped a blood vessel in her face from the dark crimson stain spreading across her visage. She could feel it, too, so she knew she was about as red as her hakama, if not more so, and that sort of embarrassed her, which did not help. She only blushed more. 

“Shego-san,” Kim started, but she was cut off.

“Shego,” came the correction. 

“Right, Shego. Um… maybe we should get up now,” the teen suggested.

“Why? It’s not like we’ve got anywhere to go.”

They both could still hear the rain coming down just like it had been last night. Hell, the only reason they knew it was morning was because it was just less dark outside, but the sun was not making its presence known by much. For the most part, dark grey clouds covered the sky. It was probably a rather miserable morning out there, but Shego was not inclined to find out, especially since the morning inside was the total opposite.

“Yes, I know—” Kim tried to say, but Shego interjected again. 

“Then let’s just appreciate getting to see another day,” she remarked, pulling Kim closer to her.

Kim seemed to be unable to blush anymore, which was probably good since she did need her blood circulating her body rather than rushing to her face. She rather enjoyed being so close to Shego. It settled her and she was rather certain she knew why. It was what she had been trying to say last night, but she had not been so sure of it. She knew now, though.

“Now, isn’t this much better than protesting and suggesting we should get up?” Shego commented, putting her other arm around Kim. 

The teenage warrior nodded without realizing it. It was the truth, but she had not told her brain to make that movement. Well, it was too late to take back now and it was honest, so there was nothing wrong with it. She exhaled slowly and made herself comfortable where she was since Shego was not taking offense to their predicament. 

“Shego…” Kim spoke the name very low. The wind almost covered her voice.

“Yeah?” Shego replied. 

“I have something I really want to tell you.”

“All right. Shoot.” 

“Well… back when you were a client at the teahouse… well… I think I was starting to like you…” Kim confessed. Maybe Yori had a point back then. She had been at least a little smitten with the bodyguard, which was why she had been so comfortable around “him” and why she had made sure “he” did not go out that night when there was the raid on Senior’s home. She had to admit that to herself now. She had done those things not for a friend, but someone she was falling for.

“Only starting?” A playful smirk settled on her face. 

“Okay, do you know what I mean, though?” Kim asked since Shego took it so lightly.

“Yes, I know what you mean,” Shego sighed, but it was not a disheartening sound in the least, which let Kim know that it was all right to try to finish talking.

“Okay, well… um… you know… um…” 

“Spit it out, hime (princess),” Shego said. She was not sure why she had used that nickname, but it was a nice name now that she let it slip. She just wanted to sound understanding and thought a pet name might help Kim say what was on her mind.

“Well… the thing is that… um, that hasn’t changed… I still like you,” she confessed and then she looked away, face tensing as she braced herself for the worst. She waited for Shego to yell at her for admitting such a thing, for even thinking such a thing. 

“That’s good to know,” the pale woman commented in an almost disarmingly light tone.

“It is?” the teen asked with her face completely scrunched up. She could not help thinking that she was probably dreaming because this was going way too well. 

“It’s very good to know.”

“Why?”

Shego only smiled. It was not her way to explain herself for things like that. But, back when she thought that Kim was a maiko, she realized now in retrospect she had started to like Kim, too, and not in a friendly manner. It went beyond what she considered, what she even thought possible. This was not just attraction. The feeling had not waned since finding out Kim was something else because she could tell that Kim had been being herself, even when she was pretending she was someone else. It was the reason why everything was going the way things were.

It was the connection they felt, Shego was sure of that. It was not just a liking; it was an attraction, yes. It was a rather heavy attraction and more in Shego’s opinion, at least on her end for it to have conquered all of her negative emotions toward the samurai. But, she was not sure what “more” meant. 

“So, it’s all right for me to still like you?” Kim asked because that did not seem right to her. In the things she had seen in her short life, women liking women in the manner that she liked Shego was not one on that list.

“It is,” Shego confirmed, caressing Kim’s back just a little. It felt like the right thing to do. 

“But, you’re a woman.”

An amused smile eased onto Shego’s lips. “Yeah, I noticed that, too. There’s nothing wrong with it,” she promised. There could not be anything with it, not with the way she felt and she was certain that the redhead felt the same way, too. It could only be wonderful, even if it was inappropriate as far as she knew. “Besides, we’re both warriors. Shouldn’t that make even more okay?” 

Kim was about to say something else, but Shego decided to just show her that everything was all right. She pulled Kim down to her and pressed her mouth against Kim’s. The redhead was so caught by surprise that she pulled away. She stared at Shego with wide eyes.

“It felt wrong?” Shego guessed. She figured that was why Kim had wrenched herself away from the contact. _Shimatta, that was just about the stupidest thing I could do here_. Shego just hoped the samurai did not run away.

Kim did not respond. She stared into those lovely emerald eyes, glad she was now allowed to see them along with the charming face that accompanied them. She then leaned down and kissed Shego, softly and gently. It felt far from wrong. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the rating goes up.

Bonus gallery pictures by [Sapphicspencil](http://sapphicspencil.deviantart.com/): [Honor Bound - Sleep](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/Honor-Bound-Sleep-47754999) and [Honor Bound - Waking](http://sapphicspencil.deviantart.com/art/Honor-Bound-Waking-47822464). Please, leave comments for the artist at deviantart.


	17. Let It Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.
> 
> Warning: lemony things happen between two women.

17: Let It Go 

Shego and Kim shared and thoroughly enjoy their second kiss. They were still positioned with Shego lying on her back and Kim was on top of her. Their lips were pressed together in a rather sweet, almost innocent way, which was fine for a moment. Shego was set to change that, though.

Shego pulled away for less than a millisecond; it was not even long enough for Kim to realize the kiss halted. Shego tilted her head slightly to adjust the embrace, making it deeper than before. She also went back to stroking Kim’s back since her arms were wrapped around the samurai, keeping her pressed against Shego.

Kim began to moan softly. It felt so incredible that it had to be right, she thought. She had hopes the kiss would never end, but she needed to breathe. _Damn my lungs_ , she thought. She pulled away to inhale, but that did not stop Shego. She let Kim breathe, but while she did that, Shego just moved on.

Shego’s mouth moved to Kim’s throat. She licked and sucked at the flesh. It was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted, applying some gentle pressure to her work.

Kim’s heart raced as it felt like lightning danced through her body. She cried out, not expecting the fierce attention and not knowing something could feel so fantastic without fighting being involved. The sound surprised Kim more than it did Shego and she pulled away when she realized she was who made it. She stared down at Shego, trying to catch her breath.

There was a questioning gaze in her olive eyes. Shego wondered why the redhead had yanked back and, for a moment, dread settled in her stomach. She needed to feel more of Kim and feared Kim would want to stop.

“Something wrong, Kim-hime?” Shego inquired, hoping to all that was holy there was nothing wrong. She did not want to scare Kim off or scar her. Rubbing the small of Kim’s back, she hoped to ease away any ill feelings.

“No… I just… I just didn’t expect that to feel so good,” Kim explained in a slightly low voice, panting slightly. She just needed a pause for a second to take in what she had just experienced, but there was nothing wrong.

“Well, it can get better,” the emerald-eyed warrior commented with a smirk that went over Kim’s head. Shego had expected that to happen, but it was still fun to play around.

Olive eyes went wide. “It can?” How was that plausible? And then she felt Shego’s hands wandering lower from her back. Her eyebrows shot up in realization, but also in confusion. Shego could not mean _that_ , could she? How could she mean _that_?

“It definitely can,” the raven-haired woman replied while kneading the area that her hands had come to rest on. She wished the clothing was not in the way. She wanted to know what the samurai felt like.

“I don’t think I can do that,” the redhead stated. Not only would she not know where to begin, but she considered it might count as losing her virginity and she was not sure if she was ready for that.

Shego tilted her head slightly. “Why not?” She was willing to bet that Kim had a more moralistic reason than a practical reason. She was too cute to have a practical reason.

“Well, I don’t think I’m ready for that and we should be more focused on other things.”

“We can focus on other things when the storm lifts. For now, let’s just enjoy the excuse to lie here and get to know each other a little better.” The older warrior gave another suggestive smirk. She knew she was definitely enjoying the excuse and she was going to help Kim enjoy it if she was not doing so already.

The samurai was not sure what to say. She glanced away for a moment and Shego took that as a chance to steal a kiss. Kim felt lightning again. It burned its way from her lips to her stomach within the blink of an eye.

The olive-eyed samurai turned her focus back to Shego, who came in for another kiss as soon as that happened. Kim did not argue with the action. She thought kissing was the only thing they would do since she had already expressed her thoughts on doing “that.” She did not have any problem with kissing Shego. It felt good, very good. _Whoever said lightning didn’t strike twice in the same place never kissed Shego_.

Shego was just as awed by the feel of Kim’s lips. Kissing Kim was different from any other kiss she had in her life and she had quite a few of those. It was not just that she was attracted to Kim, she realized. _It’s that something else_.

She cared about Kim, but more than she was used to. She could care about people like most other beings on the planet; it was just rare. It took a lot for her to care about someone, but this felt like so much more. She was too distracted by delicious lips to put a label on it, though.

“You’re amazing,” Kim whispered as they pulled barely a breath away, needing to breathe.

Shego smirked. “I know.”

Kim laughed a little and Shego pulled her down for another kiss. There was that lightning again. How the heck was Shego able to do that? Was it Shego or was it the fact that they were together?

Kim had come to terms with the fact that she cared about Shego. How she felt about the former bodyguard had not changed since she found out that Shego was a woman, which she would have thought was odd if she had a moment to think about it, but the kissing made thinking rather hard. All she could do was focus on how right it felt to kiss Shego, how delicious the pale woman was, and how she would not mind being able to kiss Shego all of the time.

After a few minutes, Shego grew weary of resting on her back; the hardwood was not an ideal place to lie down in her opinion. She sat up without breaking their kiss, making her to keep her hold on the smaller female. She kept one hand on Kim’s back to support her and moved the other hand to the front of the samurai. She explored Kim’s torso with her palm, her very warm palm; her hand was just hot enough for Kim to feel the heat through her top.

Kim made a very small, almost yelp-like noise when Shego started stroking her chest. She had expected lightning again, but this was different. This was a warm blanket on a cold day. She pretty much melted against Shego into the caress. It made her quiver on the inside, especially the pit of her stomach. She did not know what to make of that, but she liked it.

Shego noted the reaction, was pleased with it, and decided to go in for more. She went in the folds of Kim’s kimono, searching for some skin to touch. Kim jumped as she felt the hand inside her clothing and she pulled away again. The redhead looked away again, almost as if she was ashamed. 

“What’s wrong now, Princess?” Shego inquired, making sure to keep an even tone. She was not annoyed with Kim’s behavior. She could understand the redhead’s reluctance and shyness toward what was happening. She just hoped Kim gave it a try and attempted to get comfortable with this instead of backing out.

“Well, this just doesn’t seem proper,” the samurai answered, thinking the words were ridiculous as she allowed them to leave her mouth.

“Doesn’t seem proper?” Shego echoed. Of course it did not seem proper. It was not proper as far as she knew. They were two females enjoying the touch of each other, but she could not care less about that. They cared about each other, liked touching each other, and that was all that mattered in her opinion.

Sighing, Kim ran her hand through her hair. “It doesn’t.” 

“Well, that’s because it’s not. You should know that. What does it matter, though? Do you always do what’s proper?”

“No,” Kim answered honestly. Usually, the word “proper” was not even in her vocabulary. She did what she wanted because her parents let her and because she could. They felt as long as she was happy and not hurting someone who did not deserve it, it was all right. They always said they were just happy if she was happy because she was a good child. She supposed she brought up “proper” now because she was a little nervous. 

“Then what’s the problem?” Shego asked, emerald eyes searching Kim’s face. She eased her hand from Kim’s chest to her cheek and gently caressed it.

“Don’t you ever do what’s proper?” Kim countered, almost as if she was stalling, but she did not realize it.

“I do what I want. It’s my life,” the pale woman answered. There were times when she was “proper” and then there were times when she was… well, less than proper. She did what suited her.

Kim nodded. She already knew quite a bit about Shego’s philosophy in life after their talks back at the teahouse. Freedom seemed to be all Shego was about, but what was her idea of freedom, Kim now wondered. It was not something that the emerald-eyed female ever went into.

“Shego,” Kim said.

“Hmm?” Shego made the noise instead of actually responding because she was moving on. She positioned herself to kiss Kim’s ear and she started with small pecks around the shell of the ear. 

“Shego,” Kim said again while trying her best to not lean into the new attention. She moaned just a little, but managed to stay focused. She was now curious about what made the woman underneath her tick. 

“Hmm?” Shego flicked Kim’s earlobe with her tongue.

Whimpering, Kim bucked just a little, but refused to lose track of what she wanted. “What does freedom mean to you?” 

“What?” Shego pulled back just a little to look at Kim with a wrinkled forehead. _Shimatta._ She was being distracted by questions that required actual thought. She just wanted to enjoy the closeness she shared with someone she cared about.

Kim locked eyes with her. “What does freedom mean to you?” 

“Freedom means being able to do what I want, whether others agree or disagree, if it’s right or wrong, or if it’s going to end badly or not. I get to do what I want as long as I can accept what happens because of that. I take responsibility for what I do while acting how I want. That’s freedom to me,” Shego explained before moving back to where she was, wanting to kiss Kim’s ear, jaw line, and cheek.

The younger woman nodded slightly. She supposed that she could agree with that, especially since it actually made sense to her. Was she that free? Could she do what she wanted no matter what? Pretty much since she could do anything; that belief had been drilled into her head since she was a toddler. She just would not do many of the things Shego seemed to do. 

“Done with the questions?” Shego inquired, her fingers tapping lightly against Kim’s spine.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Kim replied. 

“Maybe?” Shego echoed while pulling away to look the samurai in the face again. She wanted to make sure that her companion was serious with that response.

“I just want to get to know you a little better, to understand where you’re coming from.” 

“I think you know where I’m coming from and it might scare you a little bit. A warrior like you, hanging out with the Shogun’s dogs, running after me all alone, you know where I’m coming from. If anything, you’re trying to understand yourself a little better through me. Maybe you’re wondering what it would take for you to do what I did. You’re wondering what it would take for you to turn against the government and follow an obvious moron to your probable demise,” Shego commented with a bit of a laugh.

Twisting her mouth up, Kim sighed. “Well, what made you do it?”

Shego shrugged. “It was something to do, something creative and exciting. He was amusing. Besides, I don’t like the damn Shogun much anyway. Controlling asshole.” She supposed there was the thought also that Drakken was not going to pull it off, but she did not even acknowledge that thought. 

“You don’t like the Shogun much, huh?”

“Nope, which is why I could do what I did. Do you like the Shogun so much that you’ll risk your life over him?” Shego countered.

Kim thought about how to answer that question. “I wouldn’t say I like him. I never met him. I like the peace, safety, and order and I like to help people. You guys would’ve turned Edo into a battlefield and killed a lot of innocent people if you actually went along with your plan. I couldn’t live with that.”

“But, you didn’t even know that was going to happen if you got fooled into taking the assignment in the first place,” Shego pointed out, even though she supposed her companion had a point about all of the innocent people. That would have weighed heavily on her conscience if they made it to that point. She was not going to say anything about that, though.

Kim laughed a bit, a light blush staining her cheeks. “Yeah, I got fooled pretty good. But, she asked for my help before explaining it to me. You’re a strong person, why don’t you help regular people instead of assisting jerks in trying to take over the country? You didn’t even like them and you didn’t think they could rule the country. Why would you help them?”

Sighing, Shego was silent for a moment. She was not sure how she felt about the question and answer portion of the day. She did not want to say anything to suddenly scare Kim away or lose her, but she had no desire to lie to the redhead either. They were open with each other. It was one of the reasons they had this bond in the first place.

“They amused me. I thought it’d be fun to watch them try to figure out what they were going to do if they ever did take over the country. They were just funny to watch, these simpletons thought they’d rule the whole country. It’s funny in it’s tragedy, I suppose. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment,” Shego commented while looking Kim in the eye.

Maybe that was it, Shego considered. Why else would she subject herself to things that just went against the grain? She was rid of Drakken and his crazy plots to take over all of Japan, but now she was attracted to a feisty, female samurai. And that was not it either, considering they had started off lying to each other. But, like her run with Drakken, she was willing to bet she would stick with Kim, despite the way they had met. That was just the way she was.

“Is that what I am, a punishment?” Kim asked, her mouth trying to smile like she was joking, but her eyes told a different story. 

Shego smirked. “I have a feeling one day you’ll say that with pride, but no. You’re something beyond all that. Something worthwhile. Something…” she trailed off, not entirely sure if she wanted to be sappy.

“Something?” Kim gently urged her to continue.

Shego was silent and just stared at Kim. Something inside of her told her that she would definitely stick to Kim no matter what, probably better than she did with Drakken and that was something considering how she had Drakken’s back. Whenever Drakken got into trouble, she usually went to his aid if she thought he could not get out of it himself. She might take her time, but she always showed up to save him. And sure, she made fun of him, but when he was starting to get down about things, she would try to pep him up. He had been a clown, but damn it, he was her clown.

Now that she thought about him, her expression sort of fell. She guessed she felt guilty because she felt like she failed Drakken in the end. She tried to get him to understand the severity of the situation, but his damned misplaced confidence did not seem to allow him to comprehend that he was not playing a game. Now the silly bastard was probably dead. She had failed him as a bodyguard. She did not want to fail Kim the way she had Drakken.

“Shego, are you okay?” Kim asked as she watched as sorrow conquered Shego’s visage. Without thinking, she moved one hand that had rested at Shego’s side and pressed it to Shego’s jaw, trying to caress a smile out of her. 

“I’m fine,” Shego lied. She knew she was not. She knew what guilt was. It was not like it was a new experience; she just did not feel it very often. She had failed that idiot, _her_ idiot.

“No, you’re not. What’s wrong?” the redhead inquired in a gentle tone.

Shego shook her head, declining to answer. She did not want to share what she now labeled as silly thoughts. Kim was not about to settle for that, though. She moved both hands now and cupped Shego’s face. Softly and slowly, her thumbs stroked Shego’s cheeks. Her touch was tender, which Shego noted in the back of her mind along with the idea that she liked how Kim touched her. 

“You can tell me. I’m here for you, Shego-chan,” Kim said in a low, gentle tone. She hoped that adding the “chan” would get Shego to open up to her and to show that she wanted to be closer to the pale woman.

Sighing, Shego glanced away for a moment. “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about someone.” 

“Who?” 

“No one for us to worry about.”

“Come on, you can talk to me. I want you to talk to me,” Kim insisted.

“It’s nothing important.”

“Shego,” Kim said in a stern voice that she did not even know she had. “I’m here for you to talk about anything you want.” 

Shego glanced away for a moment. “I failed Drakken. I mean, he was a baka yaro (stupid bastard) if ever there was one, but he was my baka (fool). I set myself up as a person that could protect that clown. I was supposed to protect him.” 

“You did your best,” the redhead stated.

“The words are hollow, Princess.”

“They’re the truth. How much could you do in a burning building? I understand more than most where you’re coming from, but you can’t let it eat you up. You did the best you could. Would it have been better for both of you to get caught? You weren’t going to get away sticking around with him and the Seniors while the castle was burning down thanks to whatever the hell those things were that were supposed to be protecting the castle. You had a lot working against you,” Kim pointed out.

Shego laughed a little. Thanks to Drakken, she always had a lot working against her. How was she supposed to save Drakken and the Seniors with his dolls setting everything on fire, not to mention throwing redheaded samurais at her? Well, she supposed she should not feel too guilty about not saving Drakken. She could not even save herself, after all. Not just from being captured, but from being fooled into forgiving Kim for lying to her. 

“I guess you’re right,” Shego agreed.

Kim chuckled. “You should get to used to saying that.”

Shego scoffed. “The hell I will.” She wanted to tell Kim that she would not fail her like she had failed Drakken, but maybe it was a little too early to make that promise. So, instead, she went back to what they were doing before.

Shego leaned in for another kiss, almost like a thanks for being there for her and attempting to comfort her. It was something Shego was not very used to, but she could get used to it.

Kim accepted the embrace and kept her hands on Shego’s face. Shego put her hand back inside of Kim’s kimono. She came into contact with the linen wraps that covered Kim’s torso, hiding all of Kim’s skin from her. _Shimatta_ , Shego cursed in her head because of the wraps. She really wanted to know what Kim felt like totally bare.

In the past, Shego would have chalked the thought all the way up to lust, but she was not even thinking about that one. Yes, she wanted Kim and had licentious feelings for her, but it was not the same. It was not like she just wanted to sate her lust with Kim and move on, making her feelings something she was unfamiliar with.

Shego decided screw it, disregarding the foreignness of her feelings, and started moving the wraps with her intrusive hand. The redhead felt that and she broke the kiss again. She moved away from the raven-haired woman again. Shego snorted like an irked bull, getting worked up with every second that went by and not wishing to stop now. 

“What now?” Shego asked in with a slight huff.

“Could you… um… not do that?” Kim requested. The lightning was back, but she was not sure if she was ready for where it blazed a trail. 

Shego’s brow wrinkled. “Do what?”

“What you were just doing. I, well, I don’t think I’m ready for something like that,” the redhead explained.

Shego gave her a soft smile and a small kiss to the side of the mouth. “I’m just going to touch you, nothing too much. I’m not going to hurt you or anything,” Shego pointed out while putting her free hand on Kim’s waist. “I don’t _ever_ want to hurt you.” 

“I know,” the younger warrior replied, glancing away in embarrassment. She wondered if she was just scared to do whatever it was the emerald-eyed woman was trying to get to. Was she frightened to be touched by Shego? Frightened to find out how good it was going to feel? She was not sure. Fear was always a foreign concept for her.

In truth, she was not totally sure if she actually did not want Shego to touch her as she was doing. Maybe she was just resisting because she was supposed to. Deep down, she was still a proper young woman. She was a samurai.

Shego sighed. Why was it that nothing ever went exactly the way she wanted them to go once she had something good going? She decided she was going to try to change Kim’s mind. She would not push or press, just see how far Kim would let her go. Like she said, she would never do anything to hurt Kim.

Besides, it was not like they had anything better to do beyond explore each other. It was still pouring rain outside. All she wanted to do was make Kim feel wonderful, which would make her feel just as good. All she wanted to do was revel in the new marvel that had entered her life. She wanted to learn all she could about Kim. 

“I want to touch you, Princess. I just want you to feel good, feel free,” Shego said.

“Touching me will free me?” Kim asked with her mouth turned up to one side. 

“You’ll soar,” Shego promised. She would take Kim to the heavens if only the samurai would allow her.

Shego moved her hand to Kim’s face. She held Kim by the chin and drew gentle circles with her thumb. She wanted Kim to relax and hoped Kim would not pull back when everything got started, so she could get into the mood. She leaned forward and took a little nip with her teeth of Kim’s bottom lip. The redhead jumped slightly, but Shego did not pay that much mind since Kim did not pull away. She came in again and she licked Kim’s lip that time around.

“What are you doing?” Kim nearly shrieked. No one had ever licked her before!

“Something not quite proper. Do it with me,” Shego requested with a suggestive half-smile.

Kim looked away, like a shy little girl. Shego thought it was cute. She came in again for another taste, taking the tip of her tongue and dragging it upward from Kim’s bottom to top lip. Kim yelped quietly from the action, but it was clear she enjoyed the attention because she was not pulling away. It was a little odd, though, the samurai silently noted; odd in a positive, delightful way.

Shego smiled to herself. Maybe she would get her way, which would make up for the fact that she had lost the match and had to return to Edo. She would get something she desired before having to deal with all kinds of crap that would come up when she returned to the city. She just desired to have something sweet before the bitterness of Edo cast its shadow into her world. She doubted anything on the planet was sweeter than the redhead in her lap was.

“You’re delicious,” Shego whispered, hoping to keep Kim calm. She was not sure if Kim heard her, though.

Shego went in for something bold, considering if she worked for her desire then she would get it. Kim would realize how wonderfully they fit together and open up to her. Going in for a proper kiss, she slid her tongue against Kim’s lips and was surprised when the samurai opened for her. Shego slid her tongue in, truly tasting Kim.

Kim jumped again because of the invasion, but again, she did not try to escape. It took a second or so, but Kim realized the sensation was not at all disgusting and she had no reason to pull away. She even opened her mouth a little more, allowing Shego more access.

The raven-haired female went in for deeper exploration of Kim’s mouth, brushing her tongue against Kim’s. The contact caused them both to moan and shudder just a bit. She had to do that again. Shego just could not help herself now. She slowly stroked Kim’s tongue with her own. Kim continued to moan and whimper. Each sound made Shego want to just bear her soul to Kim.

The feeling, physically, was rather curious to Shego because she had never done such a thing before. She had done many things in her twenty-plus years of living, but certain things just never crossed her mind. On the occasions she sought adult companionship, she never bothered with deep exploration of a lover. She especially never even considered putting her tongue in a lover’s mouth; the idea itself sounded rather gross. Oddly enough, putting her tongue other places never bothered her.

 _Hot damn, I should’ve done this a long time ago_ , Shego thought as she continued to move her tongue with Kim’s and swallow down delightful noises. Of course, she doubted this would have felt half as amazing with anyone else. It had to be Kim. 

Shego stopped thinking about that as Kim suddenly moved her tongue to meet Shego’s. The pale woman was now surprised and a deep moan escaped her throat as a spark of great sensation shot through her as their tongues slid together. The motion encouraged Shego to go on while the noise encouraged Kim to keep up what she was doing.

“So good…” Kim whispered and then she drew back for a second, stunned by the breathiness of her own voice.

“Hell, yeah,” Shego concurred and then came back in for another kiss.

Shego eased her hand from Kim’s face, stroking her neck on the way. She purred at the feel of soft skin under her fingertips. Her hand ended up back at Kim’s torso. She began caressing Kim through the cloth of her kimono. 

There was that lightning again for Kim. It felt good to be touched as she was, so Kim thought Shego might like it, too. She felt it was only right to return the favor. Besides, her fingers burned at the thought of touching Shego even more. 

Kim reached out for Shego’s chest and hesitated at first, but she could hardly control her hand. She stroked Shego in return, with more bashful touches, but still curious. The more she touched, the more she wanted to touch.

Shego was caught by surprise a second time and she would have said something smart about it, but at the moment, her mouth was much too busy to say something. Her mouth refused to pull away from Kim’s lips and tongue for even a second.

Shego was coherent enough to realize she could probably get away with touching some skin now. Her hand went back to the inside of the kimono and began going for the wraps around Kim. The redhead pulled back again, but it was only to catch her breath. Shego did not care about catching her breath. Air did not matter to her at the moment and she occupied her time by going for Kim’s neck.

Kim moaned as she felt Shego’s lips against her. She could not understand why everything Shego did felt like lightning dancing on her nerves. Her body burned and blazed, tingling for things she could not name. 

Kim could feel the hand going for her torso, but she did not try to stop it that go ‘round. She considered it might be as pleasant as the actions they had just done and were doing. That thought trumped everything at the moment, including the worries she had earlier. She was not even sure why she had had such problems now. So, she let Shego work, much to Shego’s delight.

“Are you sure?” Shego found herself asking as she loosened the wraps just enough to work with her.

Kim whimpered and nodded. It was good enough Shego. She came in for another kiss, which Kim returned. Shego’s hands went back to work.

Shego managed to get the wraps down just enough for her to be satisfied and she went in for a closer inspection. She trailed kisses down Kim’s throat and to her collarbone. Kim’s arms wrapped around Shego’s shoulders of their own accord, making sure to hold the pale warrior close and keeping the contact close.

Shego did not need any encouragement, but it was good to know Kim was enjoying her actions and was no longer anxious about them being together. Breaking the kiss by pulling away slightly, Shego locked eyes with Kim. Olive eyes were glazed over and Kim panted just a little. 

“Still good?” Shego asked and Kim nodded. “Will you lie down for me, then?”

Kim nodded, but she did not move. Shego smiled to herself and kissed Kim again, leaning into her slightly to guide Kim down onto the wooden floor. She could do a better job of investigating if she did not have to hold Kim up.

Kim panted even more, pretty much breathing into Shego’s mouth. She could hardly wait to see what Shego would do next. The older woman did not disappoint.

Shego’s fingers caressed Kim’s bare breast and then discovered the gem at the center. She flicked her thumb across pebbled flesh and Kim cried out into her mouth. The sound danced down all of Shego and settled at her core. Kim clutched her shoulders and the dig of her fingers just made Shego want more.

Shego moved without thinking, positioning herself over Kim. She put her knee in between Kim’s legs. Her lips left Kim’s mouth, needing to taste more of Kim’s neck. 

“Is this okay?” Shego asked. Generally, she was not a fan of being pinned, so she was not sure how Kim would feel about it.

“F-f-fine,” Kim whined as Shego flicked her nipple again. She inhaled deeply as Shego scrapped her teeth down her neck.

“Gonna open your yukata a little more,” Shego said.

Breathing hard, Kim just nodded. Shego’s mouth on Kim’s torso as Shego opened her top more. Her lips mapped out their own path across the flesh revealed. The taste swirled through her, making her dizzy. It did not matter to her that Kim had not bathed in at least in the past day as far as she knew. Shego still enjoyed every inch that she got experience.

Shego continued her exploration and her mouth came to one small mound. The size did not matter to her. She kissed the inside of the hill while her hand kneaded the outside of flesh; Kim squirmed and shuddered in pleasure underneath her. Her tongue wandered to the peak of the flesh and began to circle around the apex point, causing the body part to spring to life. The redhead cried out and began to wiggle some more, seeming to want more contact. Shego had no problem obliging.

Shego latched onto the small gem, tongue lapping and lips sucking. Kim hissed in pleasure as the contact was made. Shego wanted to make Kim feel even more. Tears gathered in her olive eyes as the pale woman pressed on, adding more suction. Shego felt like she might never let go… except maybe to go visit the other breast.

Kim wanted to reach up and hold Shego’s head to her, but she controlled herself. She did clench her hands into tight fists and lightly banged on the floor. She had not known it was possible for something to feel so good physically. 

Shego glanced up, just to see Kim’s reaction. It would seem she had won this round because Kim was at her mercy. Something strange, but familiar shot through her as she realized she had control of the only person to defeat her in battle. Whatever that jolt was, it went straight to the one place she really did not need it to go. She throbbed and dripped for Kim now.

Shego groaned as she realized she had to figure out how to relieve _that_ desire with Kim without freaking the samurai out. Of course, Kim had been fine with everything else, so maybe they would get that far. She would just have to be careful and make sure Kim wanted that as well. 

“You like this?” Shego asked with Kim’s nipple still in her mouth.

“Uh-huh.”

“You want more?”

“Uh-huh.”

Shego was happy to oblige. Her lips and tongue could not get enough of Kim. She went from one treasure to the next and then back to the first. Kim squirmed and writhed beneath her, arching and bucking. Shego burned with each noise and move from the redhead. 

“Princess… I need to… I need to do more,” Shego whispered, tongue flicking a pink peak.

“M-m-more?” Kim quivered.

“Yes.”

Kim groaned. “I don’t know… I don’t know if I can take more.” 

Shego pulled away, needing to look into those olive eyes. “You want me to stop?”

“Never!” Kim whined, leading Shego to believe she might need this as much as Shego did at this point. 

Shego went back to kissing beautiful breasts and tasting wonderful skin. She rolled her hips forward, pressing her thigh into Kim’s body. Gasping in pleasure, Kim grabbed her shoulders and almost tore her top.

While the move did not give Shego much stimulation to her aching core, getting the reaction from Kim was more than enough motivation to keep going. Pressing down, she added more pressure for Kim and moved more. Kim gasped.

“Wha-what was that?” Kim asked in a breathless manner, referring to the sensation that had just gone through her because of the rubbing. 

“You like it?” Shego asked the obvious.

“Uh-huh.”

Shego chuckled a little. The pleasure had short-circuited Kim’s brain. Shego would have patted herself on the back if Kim were not so busy gripping her shoulders.

“This is amazing,” Shego muttered and she just meant Kim’s reaction. She had not expected that to work, but hell, since it did, she was going to continue on. She was thankful that it did work since it did not seem like her attraction was quite as misplaced as some might like her to believe. Apparently, there was enough in place for them to be physically intimate and get a great deal of pleasure from it.

“It feel good for you?” Kim asked. 

“Uh… Yeah.” It did, but she knew it could feel better and Kim seemed to be all right with her trying.

Shego moved a little, settling on Kim’s slim thigh. Her hips moved on their own and the friction was glorious! She practically convulsed just from that simple action.  She could see why Kim could barely talk at this point. _Why haven’t I been doing this my whole adult life?!_  

As her body moved and more sounds flowed from Kim, Shego was extremely happy to find ecstasy was not a fluke. That was really good news because it meant that they would be able to connect physically as well as any other way that they had already; ways that Shego hated to admit since she was supposed to grumpy and misanthropic. 

Once Shego was certain that the movements were not some mistake, but actually quite satisfying, she went back to what she had been doing before. Kim practically screamed when Shego went back to work on her breast while making sure to keep up the motion of her hips. More tears gathered and fell from the samurai’s eyes, which she had closed tightly because of the ecstasy coursing through her. She had never felt anything quite like it.

Without her knowledge, Kim’s hips began moving to meet with Shego’s to create more friction. She pressed her thigh against Shego even more, following Shego’s lead. Shego gasped and had to stop her attention to Kim’s chest because she could not focus on doing more than one thing now. Bliss blazed through her.

Shego began panting and dropped her head, resting it against Kim’s throat. She noticed where she was after a few seconds and kissed Kim’s neck. Her hand on Kim’s breast squeezed and kneaded as if her body had a mind of its own, each part going after something.

Kim let loose a whine as one of her hands finally released Shego’s back, only to travel to her head. She pressed Shego close as her hips moved faster, chasing something she could barely comprehend. Her other hand moved to Shego’s waist, trying to pull Shego closer, wanting Shego to catch whatever it was they were after.

Shego groaned as she felt those hands on her. Carving more of Kim, she moved her head up to kiss Kim’s mouth. Kim eagerly returned the kiss. They both had the same idea to open their mouths and engage in another tongue dual. Eventually, they moved as one, drifting through delight, going to higher places with each motion. Every now and then, one of them would cry out into the other’s mouth.

Suddenly, Kim shuddered underneath Shego and the pale woman knew all too well what happened. She continued on, hoping to reach her own climax. While Kim recovered from falling over the edge, Shego gasped and trembled. She almost fell over, but managed to hold herself up with one hand. They both took sometime to catch their breath before turning their attention back to each other.

“That was amazing,” Shego commented and she placed a small peck on Kim’s lips.

“Yeah,” Kim agreed with a tired smile. “Exhausting, too.” 

Shego nodded. It was workout. It did not help that they had not eaten in who knew how long.

Shego fell to her side and lay on her back. She grabbed Kim to rest on top of her. Kim made herself comfortable against Shego and closed her eyes, not sure if she was just resting or going to fall asleep. Shego closed her eyes, too, and her last conscious thought was that they were going to have to do that again with nothing between them next time. And then when they woke up, they found the rain had stopped.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the pair leaves the cabin and get into some trouble.

Bonus gallery picture by [Sapphicspencil](http://sapphicspencil.deviantart.com/): [Honor Bound - Kiss](http://sapphicspencil.deviantart.com/art/Honor-Bound-Kiss-48115185). Please, leave all comments for the artist at deviantart.


	18. Into Town They Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

18: Into Town They Go

The seemingly endless rain finally halted. The mighty, grey clouds began to make way for the once again powerful sun to come through. The light intruded on the little world Kim and Shego had built for themselves that morning in the small, wooden shelter. The two warriors glanced at the window as the sun made itself known and found themselves upset to see the light. They both had hoped that it would just rain on. The world could have drowned in the downpour for all they cared as long as they could have stayed where they were. 

The rain had been their ally, their friend. It had allotted them the chance to spend the night together, not to mention the morning. Now, the sun had chased their excuse away, like a dog after a cat. They sighed, hating the sun for the moment and missing the rain.

“Well, I guess it’s time to leave,” Shego commented, trying her best to sound normal and she was doing a semi-decent job at that. She actually would not mind leaving if they were just going in search of better accommodations, but the fact that they were going to be going back to Edo bothered her, of course.

“Yeah, I guess,” Kim agreed with a sigh, pushing her bangs out of her face. What was about to be done bothered her, too, especially after realizing she had feelings for the super-powered warrior.

The two sat up; Shego had been lying on her back and Kim had been on top of her. The redhead moved off of Shego and started to fix her garments. Shego turned her attention to the outside, staring at the door as if she was trying to will the rain to start again. The sounds of the birds coming out let her know that was not going to happen.

“Shimatta,” Shego quietly cursed, hating the birds now to go along with detesting the sun.

“Did you say something?” Kim asked.

Shego shook her head. “No. Let’s get going.”

An expression of reluctance washed over Kim’s face. She knew she now had to walk Shego to her possible death back home. It crushed her on the inside. She had saved the woman once and that was before she even ready to admit she cared about the former bodyguard as more than a friend. Now, she had spent the night in Shego’s arms, exchanged kisses, and had done something that seemed rather intimate, even though it was also bizarre and they had been dressed. Could she really just walk someone she cared about into the jaws of the Shogun? She doubted it.

“It’ll be all right,” Shego tried to assure Kim when she noticed the redhead’s expression. 

She cupped Kim’s face with one hand and caressed Kim’s cheek with her thumb, but she could see that was not enough. Kim sighed and her shoulders slumped. Shego leaned in and placed a lingering peck to Kim’s lips. Kim kissed back, which was a good sign. Maybe the sun had not banished all they built in the house to the shadows.

“It’ll be all right,” Shego repeated. 

“How?” Kim’s voice was little more than a whisper and cracked in the middle of the simple word.

“It just will. I made you a promise, so let’s go. Besides, we can’t spend the rest of our lives in this little hovel. Eventually, we’re going to need to bathe,” the older woman remarked with a smirk.

Kim laughed a bit herself. They would definitely need to bathe and soon. They were both wearing a couple of days’ worth of filth. There was their battle sweat, getting caught in the rain, hanging out in a cave for about half a day, and their morning activities bringing on a different sort of sweat. They smelled and looked like they could use a thorough cleaning followed by a relaxing bath. They could also use something to eat, but they were both more concerned about getting clean than filling their empty bellies. 

“We can’t stay here forever,” Shego pointed out.

“I know,” Kim sighed and she climbed to her feet.

Shego followed suit. They walked to the door together and stepped out into the accursed sunlight. Their lungs welcomed the fresh air, even though it felt damning to Kim. Shego was a little more confident.

They were on their way. Even though they were not sure what it was, they both assured themselves that they had a future and they were walking toward it, not leaving behind the only chance that they would have to be together and that was why neither of them suggested going in the opposite direction.

-8-8-8-8-

“Ah, damn it, is that a checkpoint?” Shego asked as she stared up the dirt path she and Kim were on. In the distance, she could see the line already. So close to a bath and she had to deal with a checkpoint? What had she done to deserve such a cruel fate! 

“It does look like a checkpoint,” Kim agreed, looking up ahead of them, too. She knew as soon as they found a decent road they would have to hit a checkpoint, but she did not think it would be so soon. She had hoped a village would be on the road before a checkpoint, so that they could at least get clean.

“I hate those things,” Shego commented with a huff. She wished she could just enter a town and not have to be subjected to an inspection like she was some kind of dog. The inspections were rather outlandish in her opinion, which might explain why she never bothered with them.

“Do you have papers?” the samurai asked with an arched eyebrow. 

Shego actually laughed rather hard, as if that was great joke. Did she have any papers? She was a free-spirited rebel; of course, she did not have any papers.

“Princess, really? Do you really think I go through checkpoints?” Shego asked. 

“No, you don’t look like the type,” Kim replied honestly. “But, it never hurts to check.”

Snorting, Shego waved the comment off. “You can go through the checkpoint if you want. I’ll see you inside the town if that’s the case.” 

“What do you mean?” Kim inquired.

“I don’t have a passport, Princess. I get around illegally more often than not,” Shego pointed out.

“How do you manage that?”

“I could show you if you want,” Shego remarked, even though she was fairly certain if Kim wanted to cheat the system, she would have no problem doing it. It was not like the redhead was stupid or anything. 

“I’d rather just go through the checkpoint. It’s less of a hassle.”

Shego blew a raspberry. “You’d like to think so. When was the last time you went through a checkpoint?” The paper system was more complex and annoying than it had ever been and she tried to always avoid it.

“Not too long ago. It’s not too troubling. My papers are pretty specific, so I don’t get harassed much,” Kim replied. 

Shego shrugged because she did not have anything else to respond with. She would not be surprised if officials allowed Kim to pass just because they were scared she was a fox spirit. She wondered just how specific Kim’s passport was, but she figured if it mentioned her redhead hair and green eyes then Kim really should not be bothered. Only a real asshole would look for more than that in her opinion. 

“Well, I’ll see you inside,” Shego said.

Kim nodded and the pair parted ways as they came to the inspection line. Kim was a bit surprised by the number of people going into the town. Usually, when she came to an inspection post, there was just her, and Ron if he came along with her on a mission. She decided not to think about it, though. She just wanted to get the process over and done with it. Sure, it was less of a hassle than sneaking into the town, but it was still a hassle.

“I hope I find Shego as soon as I get inside,” she muttered. It would be even more of a hassle if she could not. _I should’ve just sneaked in with her_. It was not like it would have been the first time.

-8-8-8-8- 

Shego looked around the town as she waited around for Kim. She figured it might take Kim a while to get in. She sighed.

“Kim should’ve just come with me. Getting split up makes everything harder,” Shego grumbled.

It had been far from difficult to get in around the checkpoint and into the town. It would not have been harder to get into town with another person. But, she was not surprised Kim would rather do things the legal way. Kim was all about being proper until it did not suit her agenda, which was fine by Shego. 

“Unless, of course, it leaves me waiting around in some hole-in-the-ground town,” Shego complained with a scowl.

She supposed she could try to spot some places of interest for her and her companion, like some place to get clean and a restaurant worth eating at. As she thought about eating, her stomach grumbled. She was really hungry. She had not eaten the day before Kim came looking for her. She had not expected for someone to catch her so quickly. The petite samurai was just full of surprises.

“Kim-hime is probably hungry, too. Between the fight and this morning, she’s worked up an appetite I’m sure,” Shego said.

So, she went around the town, looking for their necessities for the moment. She spotted a restaurant and went in to see what kind of food they served. She was not too interested in those things and as she exited the place, she was nearly mowed down by what looked like a cart, but it was not pulled by a person or an animal.

“What the hell?” Shego growled as the strange device rocketed down the street. She glared at it as it moved in the distance. What the hell was that thing and why the hell had it nearly kill her?

The raven-haired warrior stared down the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of the contraption and the people who were in it. A couple of people had been inside the thing and if Shego had gotten a better look at them, she would have made sure to remember their faces to beat them up later. They had gone by too fast for her to see exactly what they looked like, though.

Shego decided to dismiss her anger at the pair that had nearly run her over since she could not do anything about them for the moment and she was still rather hungry. She continued on her search and found another restaurant almost immediately. She went to go see what they served and did not find that menu too pleasing either. She frowned; was it too much to ask for a decent meal now that she was within inches of several restaurants? It would seem so.

“Shego-chan!” Kim called in a rather loud voice.

Shego turned around to see what the redhead was hollering about and she saw Kim dashing toward her at a rather impressive speed. She arched an ebony eyebrow and noted there was a group of five men trailing behind Kim. Oh, it would seem that the little samurai got into some trouble at the inspection post. _Yeah, big surprise there_ , Shego thought sarcastically. 

“What did you do?” Shego inquired as Kim ran by her and grabbed her to run along.

“The inspector looked at my papers and then looked at me and called me a liar, saying I wasn’t the person being described,” Kim replied, checking behind them to see how close those guards were.

“So?” Shego’s brow furrowed at that. This just convinced her only idiots were employed at the checkpoints. They cut into an alley, hoping they would lose those guys.

“He kept calling me a liar and I started arguing with him over because it’s pretty clear that my passport is describing me. I mean, long red hair, green eyes, hakama, and three swords on her hip? That’s me, but he kept arguing and then he put his hands on me and, well, let’s just say he should wake up by tomorrow morning,” the olive-eyed samurai explained.

Shego laughed a bit and smiled. She figured the guy got what was coming to him and she bet that he would learn to watch his tongue the next time he was confronted by a petite redheaded samurai. They turned around to check and see if they were still being followed and saw they were. They glanced at each other and seemed to be hit by the same idea. They ran out onto the street and into another alley. The men still chased them and followed them into the alley. 

“You really know how to liven up the day,” Shego remarked as they kept moving.

“Would you believe that sometimes I don’t even mean to do it?” Kim joked.

By the time the men made it to the end of the alley, they noticed they had lost one of the women. The good thing was that they had gotten the one they wanted, though. Kim stood at the mouth of the alley with her hands on her hip, her chin in the air, and a smirk on her face. She looked rather confident for a young lady about to be arrested and probably sent into forced servitude for carrying inaccurate papers; inaccurate according to the man in charge of the checkpoint, anyway.

“You guys are about the dumbest people I’ve had the pleasure of beating up,” Shego remarked, which caused the men to turn around. 

The quintet of fellows was surprised to see Shego blocking the other end of the alley. They did not think about it too much since they out numbered the females and, well, the two were females too. They silently admitted the smirk on Shego’s face was rather chilling, though. 

“You guys are going to have to learn to look before you leap,” Shego taunted the men as she and Kim advanced with methodical steps toward the guys. 

“Just give up and you won’t get hurt,” one of the men informed the ladies.

“I wish I could make the same promise,” Shego commented, still smirking like a devil.

Kim hoped Shego would not hurt the guys too much. After all, they were just doing their jobs and she really just wanted them to stop chasing her. She never wanted anyone to get more injured than necessary, even if they practically asked for it.

The duo was on the men in a flash. The guys barely had time to put their hands up before Kim had her foot in a fellow’s throat and Shego had her fist on a guy’s cheek. The two guys who were hit flew past each other and exited the alley on opposite ends. They skidded across the dirt and did not move at all when they finally came to a halt. They were definitely unconscious and they were probably going to be out for the rest of the day.

There were loud gasps and wide eyes from the other three guys. They were caught off guard because of their surprise. They really could hardly believe that anyone, let alone women were capable of such feats of strength. Kim and Shego just went into action again, not even bothering to note how amazed their opponents seemed to be.

Kim went in for a combination on a man, working his face over with a few well-placed punches. Shego went in for the body of another guy, doing the same as Kim once she made contact. The last one drew his sword just in time because Kim and Shego turned to him as his partners fell limply the ground. He held his katana tightly, but he did not know whom to face, especially since they stood opposite him. A lone, nervous bead of sweat fled down his cheek.

“Well, well, well, and there was one,” Shego commented with an amused smile on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

“Stay back,” he ordered them, aiming his weapon in between them. The sword glinted in the sun, flashing a flickering shine through the alley.

“I’d rather not,” Shego said, her smile changing into something more demonic by the second. Her eyes glinted as if the fires of Hell danced within her.

“Be careful,” Kim cautioned Shego. She could see the official’s hand trembling as he held his katana.

Shego waved her companion off. She saw the same shiver. It was dangerous to tangle with a guy who did not know how to handle such a deadly weapon in such an enclosed space. She did not care. She liked to take a chance and maybe teach an idiot a lesson about drawing weapons that he did not want to use. 

“I think he should be careful. He could hurt someone with that thing,” Shego remarked with a daring smirk and she took a step toward him.

“Keep away,” he commanded. His voice shook even more than his hand did.

“I don’t think I want to,” Shego said, holding up a clawed hand, as if taunting the frightened fellow, showing him what he would soon be on the receiving end of. 

The man gulped and then gasped. He fell forward. While he had been so focused on Shego, Kim hit in the back of the head. He hit the ground like a limp sack and Shego laughed. That had certainly been amusing.

“Wow, that was fun. You need to get in trouble more often,” Shego grinned. 

“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have had this problem if the stupid inspector just accepted my passport,” Kim replied.

“I guess that’s one way of putting it. You’re one tough number, huh?” Shego said, laughing at her own rhetorical question. She was now in a very good mood, finding out her companion was not only cute, but fun too, and she had gotten to fool around with some incompetent guards who had hopefully learned a lesson. 

Kim laughed a little, too. She was happy to see Shego in such a good mood. She was used to a more somber, laid back Shego from when they were at the teahouse. She was also glad to see what Shego looked like when she was somewhat jovial since she had only just recently been able to see Shego’s entire face. They walked out of the alley, smiling as if nothing happened and leaving the five men unconscious where they lay.

“So, what do you say we go get something to eat?” Shego suggested. 

Kim stomach responded to that question by growling loudly. The redhead put her hands over her belly and looked sheepish because of the noise. Shego chuckled a bit and she put her arm around Kim’s shoulder, leading her off to find a restaurant. They both quietly noted they liked how they were situated.

It did not take too long for them to find an eatery with a menu that Shego was not opposed to. They ordered some lunch and went to a table in the small establishment. They both looked rather grateful for the hot food and folded their hands over the food for a moment before declaring a hearty “itadakimasu,” (1) grabbing their chopsticks, and digging in. The food tasted better than either could have imagined. They had been hungrier than they let on, but they were not really hiding it anymore considering how quickly and much they were devouring.

They were distracted from their meals for a moment as they heard strange noises coming from outside. They glanced over to where the entrance of the restaurant and noticed some movement out there. They both decided it did not have anything to do with them and turned back to their food, continuing their feast.

The noise from outside stopped and a large blonde man entered the restaurant. He wore a tethered blue uwagi (jacket) with the sleeves torn off in a rather sloppy fashion. His bare arms showed off a tattoo on his shoulder, which meant he was probably yakuza (hoodlum/gangster). He had on zubon (pants) that were a bluish grey. The uwagi was tied closed, but only loosely and his wide chest was revealed. He had a pair of geta (wooden sandals).

His blond hair was wild and fell below his shoulders. He had sienna brown mustache and black beady eyes. He looked around the restaurant, but he stopped completely when his eyes caught sight of two fine ladies. His mouth practically dropped to the floor when he saw them. It must have been his lucky day, he concluded.

He ran his hand over his hair, as if fixing it, but that had not done the untamed yellow mane much good. He then marched over to the ladies while his short sidekick entered the restaurant. The blond walked over to the women’s table and stood there for a moment. They did not pay him any mind until he had the nerve to put his hand down on their table, cutting into their mealtime and coming close to squashing some fresh buns they just ordered. They looked up at him; Kim looked curious while Shego was borderline furious. 

“Can we help you?” Shego demanded, planning to stab him in the hand with one of her chopsticks if his finger got any closer to her soup bowl, which still had soup in it that she planned on finishing.

“Totally. The name’s Ed, seriously,” he informed them, as if they were going to call that into doubt, and he pointed to his name on his shoulder. 

“What’s that for, in case you forget?” Shego inquired about the reason he would tattoo his own name onto his shoulder.

“They call me Motor Ed,” he continued on, unaffected by the snide remark from the upset-looking female. She would be surprised if he even understood the insult.

“Am I supposed to be impressed? Get the hell away from us. Can’t you see we’re trying to eat?” Shego pointed out, motioning to their food with her chopsticks. 

Turning his complete attention to her for a moment, a lewd smile slithered onto Motor Ed’s face. “Whoa, babe, you are totally hot, seriously.”

“Motor?” Kim echoed with an arched eyebrow. She racked her brain for the word in her vocabulary. Having a father who was an engineer and brothers who were inventors, she had pretty wide range of knowledge and the word sounded a little familiar, but she could not place it yet and she really did not want to at the moment. She just wanted to go back to eating.

Now, his eyes shot to Kim. His beady eyes glinted with lust as he gave her a half-smile.  “Yeah, motor. You want to see my wheels?” the blond offered, looking charming in his opinion, but it was closer to creepy in their opinions.

“No, she doesn’t. Leave her the hell alone,” Shego ordered, quickly growing to hate the blond male. She was offended he would talk to her companion right in front of her, even though he did not know what Kim was to Shego. Hell, Shego did not even know what Kim was to her. She just knew she did not like the big blockhead talking to Kim, trying to take her some place to see anything.

“It won’t take too long, Aka (red), seriously,” Motor Ed sort of purred. The sound made their skin crawl. 

Shego growled and her frown almost hurt her face. She made an angry fist at the nerve to of the blond bastard, accidentally snapping her utensils in half because of her grip on them. Kim noticed the expression and smiled to herself; Shego was jealous. It made her feel good about herself for some reason, but she would calm the situation, so Shego did not have to wipe the floor with the upfront, upstart blond.

“That’s okay. I’d rather finish my lunch,” Kim replied with a bright smile, hoping it would get him to leave them alone. A gentle, friendly let down usually worked. 

“Come on, it’s just outside, seriously. I bet you never seen nothing like it, seriously,” the large man boasted.

“That’s all right,” she stated again, continuing to smile so lightly that she probably would rival the sun’s shine. 

Motor Ed did not seem to like that answer too much. He leaned down to Kim, invading her space as far as she and her cohort were concerned. Shego frowned at how close he was to her companion. He seemed to be about to reach out for Kim. Before the redhead could act, Shego grabbed him by the shoulder. She dug her claw-like nails into his body, cutting through his uwagi and wounding the top of his shoulder. He groaned and turned his attention to her.

“I’d leave her alone if I were you. Now, she doesn’t want to see whatever wheels you have and she does want to finish her lunch, so leave her the hell alone,” Shego ordered and she pushed Motor Ed away with a strength he did not expect.

The blond flew across the room and landed on a table, busting it. He held his head, which was pounding now, as it had taken the brunt of the blow. His short sidekick ran to his side as soon as he hit the table.

“Aniki (big brother)!” the short, ebony-haired male shouted as he went to Motor Ed, who sat up. “Are you okay, aniki?” the sidekick inquired.

“Yeah, I’m fine, seriously,” Motor Ed answered, turning his attention back to the two ladies.

Shego glared at Motor Ed, as if daring him to come back for more and give her an excuse to tear his whole face off. Kim only smiled, like a mischievous imp, seeming to hope he did come back for more. Motor Ed considered it. He even smiled a bit to let them know he would take them up on their challenge.

“Hey! What’s going on out here?” the restaurant owner hollered as he came to the front of the restaurant to see damage done to his table. 

Motor Ed decided to bide his time. He got up and tried to appease the outraged restaurant owner because he did not want to hear his voice. When it obvious the man was not going to stop yelling, Motor Ed figured it would just be better for him to leave to not have to hear the man squawking anymore.

“Hey, Aka-chan, I’ll see you around, seriously,” Motor Ed commented before leaving the eatery with his sidekick.

Shego frowned deeply; he would see the samurai again over her dead body. Kim smiled again because of the fact that Shego was jealous, even though the samurai had no interest in Motor Ed whatsoever. The super-powered warrior noted the expression and took offense to it. What was the redhead smiling about, anyway? Did she like the attention from that yellow-haired monkey?

“What the hell are you looking like that for? Did you want to go with the dumb monkey?” Shego demanded with that frown stuck on her face.

Kim laughed a bit and shook her head to disagree. “It’s nothing like that at all. I just think it’s sweet how you stood up for me like that.”

Shego blinked, taken aback by that answer and a blush crept into her face. She had done something Kim thought was sweet? Something like that should not have even mattered to her, she thought, but that was not the case when it came to Kim. She had never done anything as far as she knew that was sweet in anyone’s opinion and she had never cared to until that moment. She was flattered by the thought of being sweet in Kim’s eyes. It was a rather strange feeling, but she liked it and she hoped she could do more sweet things for the younger warrior. 

“Let’s just finish our lunch. We do have to find some place to clean up and everything too,” Shego pointed out, hoping to get control back from the emotions that poked out thanks to Kim calling her actions sweet.

Kim nodded in agreement with that. They turned their attention back to their lunch and finished the meal after Shego got some more chopsticks. They then went in search of some place to get the days worth of grime off of their bodies. They could not wait to get clean.

They eventually made their way to a hotel, figuring it would not hurt to have a place to relax. They were in no real hurry. Besides, having a room to themselves would give them some place to try what they did in the cabin again. Maybe it would give them a chance to figure out just what they were to each other, too. Plus, there was a hot spring bath at the hotel, not that it mattered to Shego since she could heat up just about anything she felt like.

The pair agreed to lounge in the bath for a while after they got clean. Shego was ready first and went out into the water. She sighed as she settled into the piping hot liquid. It felt rather good, she silently admitted. It was a good suggestion from Kim because while she could heat anything up at will, she could not add the minerals that were in the water, which helped make the bath relaxing. 

“Where the hell is she?” Shego wondered, looking around. It had only been a few seconds, but she was actually pretty anxious to see Kim in a state of undress. 

Kim was still getting out of her clothes. She had to fold everything properly, so she was still folding her kimono, which left her still wearing the bindings around her torso and her hakama; yes, she took the kimono off before the hakama because she liked having her swords on her until the last possible moment. She then suddenly tensed up. Something was wrong. 

The redhead turned around, making sure to be on alert. She had her hands up ready to fight, but she could already tell how things were going to go. She was in an enclosed space and then she was suddenly surrounded. She wondered what was going on now while trying to figure out if she would be able to draw her short sword, but she doubted it. There was not even enough room for that. 

“Hey, Aka-chan, how about coming to see my wheels now, seriously?” Motor Ed inquired as he stepped forward, showing that he was responsible for this.

“You know, I had no idea monkeys could come up with half-descent ideas,” Kim remarked.

It would seem the guys did not like that. She had to defend herself as several men came at her from all angles. Because of the limited space with so many opponents, she was quickly subdued. They bound and gagged her after just piling up on her and immobilizing her.

“Well, let’s get moving, seriously,” Motor Ed commented and his men dragged Kim along. She said something to him through her gag, which he thought he understood. “Don’t worry, Aka-chan, the demon woman you’re with isn’t going to save you this time, seriously,” he promised her.

Little did he know, Kim had not said a word about Shego coming to her rescue. She had made a promise of her own, promising Motor Ed would regret kidnapping her. She was going to make him regret it herself, personally, and very, very soon.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the reactions of Kim and Shego to Motor Ed’s bold moves.

-8-8-8-8-

1: Itadakimasu: I am about to partake (civility exchanged before meal).


	19. Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

19: Fire

“Where the hell is she?” Shego grumbled, referring to Kim, who was taking a long time to come get in the bath.

She and Kim had agreed to stay at a hotel and take a bath together. It would be a great way to relax, they had agreed, and it worked on Shego’s part so far. She had come out first and now she waited for Kim, whose presence would definitely make things better. She had been there alone for almost five minutes. How long could it possibly take one small female to get undressed and neatly put her things away?

Shego decided it was taking much too long for Kim to get out of her things. She got up from the bath and wandered back to the changing space stark naked, unaware of any possible chill in the air. She poked her head into the area.

“Hey, Princess,” Shego called as soon as she looked into the room and then she noticed the whole place was empty. 

Shego’s brow furrowed as she arched an eyebrow in curiosity mixed with confusion. _Where the hell is she?_ She noticed the kimono on the floor, crumpled and in a heap. Well, it was clear she did not go anywhere of her own freewill without her kimono because that just would not make any sense. Shego also doubted Kim would leave her kimono in such disarray. Why would she leave partially dressed? She could only think of one reason and she disliked it.

“Shimatta (damn),” Shego cursed and she went to get dressed. When she found whoever it was who took her… whatever Kim was to her… she would make that person pay by breaking every bone plausible in that person’s body. She figured Kim had been stolen out of the room because of the abandoned kimono.

She grabbed her own kimono and hakama, glad she did not bother to fold her clothes in some special manner so she could throw them on as rapidly as possible. She had an idea as to who it was that took Kim, but even with the idea in mind, she was well aware she would still have to find that big monkey. She hoped people around the town were not tightlipped about things or she was going to have to be very mean to people.

“No one’s just hijacking my princess and getting away with it,” she vowed. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim was both pissed and intrigued. She was unbelievably angry with being kidnapped by Motor Ed and his gang, of course. Not to mention the fact that it happened while she was not wearing a top. She was lucky to not lose her hakama since she had untied her obi, but tied it back. She had the habit of keeping her obi and hakama on while she folded her kimono because she liked keeping her swords at her side until the very last moment. She supposed that odd quirk had saved her further embarrassment and she was thankful for that.

Now, she was also intrigued because Motor Ed and his gang had some rather curious looking devices they used to make their getaway. They were like carts, but they were not tugged along by anything. They ran on their own power. It was amazing.

She was willing to bet the carts were some sort of clockwork machines, but she could not figure out how they worked, not that she really wanted to right now. She would have to tell her brothers about it when she got home, if they did not get on her nerves anyway. Yes, even she could be civil to those little tweebs, but only if they could be the same. If she got home and they tried to steal her pickles at breakfast again, they were going to get her fists and that was about it.

She and her brothers had a strange siblings’ relationship. They always tried to act like they normally did no matter what, even if Kim was gone from home for a long period of time. Sure, she missed them and they missed her, but when she got home, they never acted like it. They always went back to business as usual as quickly as possible and they liked it that way. It was the best way that they knew how to get along and they just wanted to fall back into their routine to be sure that everything was right in the world as far as they were concerned.

“Well, Aka-chan, we’re going to have a good time with you, seriously,” Motor Ed declared, throwing off his prisoner’s thoughts.

Kim rolled her eyes. She was positioned behind the blond idiot and his sidekick, who handled the steering of the vehicle. She scanned around to take a head count of how many people Ed ran with just to know what she would have to deal with in a moment. As far as she could see there were six vehicles and each had two people in them, not counting the vehicle she was in.

Well, that just meant there were fourteen chumps for her to take out. Fourteen was nothing in her opinion in an open space, especially if the group was not too bright. She doubted she was amongst geniuses considering the fact that they had bound her arms around her back and gagged her, but not an idiot amongst them thought to take her swords. She was rather pleased they had not taken her swords or that would have been more trouble than she needed at the moment.

She looked around to get a feel for the environment to see if it was suitable for combat. They were out of the town, but on a slightly wide road. There were some trees around, but not enough to be considered a forest, and those were a few feet away from the road. The land between the road and the trees was flat and covered by grass from what she could see. There was a bright moon out that night, which would make it easy to see her when she decided to make her move, but that did not matter to her. The ground around her was really all that mattered to her. That was good enough for her to start some trouble, she figured.

The redheaded samurai decided she did not want to see where they were taking her. She would rather get back to Shego and their bath as soon as she could. She was curious and eager to see what things were like between her and Shego in a more normal setting. And Motor Ed had put a delay on that, which was rather irritating.

Kim took her legs and brought them as close to as she could. She then slid her arms underneath her feet and brought them to the front of her. She then unsheathed her short sword slightly, just enough to cut her ropes. She snapped her bounds away from her wrists and then pulled her wakazashi (short sword) from its scabbard. She put the point of her blade at Motor Ed’s back. Feeling the point, he jumped in surprise.

“However you stop this thing, do it now,” Kim ordered in a harsh snarl.

“Whoa, Aka-chan has bite, seriously,” Motor Ed remarked with a strangely pleased smirk. It was like he was happy to have the sword at his back.

“What do you want me to do, aniki?” the sidekick asked, his voice slightly trembling. He was a bit panicked about having an armed and angry woman behind them with a sword in her hands, but then again the boss seemed to be calm about it, so that eased his nerves.

“Show her our moves, seriously,” the blond answered with an arrogant glint in his eyes.

“All right, aniki,” the sidekick replied with a smirk of his own. “Well, girl, I guess it’s time to show you what for.”

Kim yelped in surprise as the vehicle jerked violently to the side. She almost lost her balance, but she maintained it, only for the vehicle to go to the opposite side. She quickly sheathed her sword as she almost fell off of the vehicle. Just as she thought she was safe, the vehicle wrenched again, much more violently than before, and she was thrown off.

Motor Ed and his people laughed as Kim went flying. She righted herself in the air and landed in a kneeling position. She skidded along the ground, putting her hand down in hope of slowing herself down. She looked up to make sure she knew were Motor Ed and his gang were. They had the nerve to turn around.

“Oh, so I guess they want to play. Good to know,” Kim said, hand on the hilt of her sword. If they wanted to play, she would oblige them. It was not like she enjoyed being kidnapped. It actually did a number on her self-esteem more often than not, especially when obvious morons took her. She would enjoy getting back at them for that. She smirked like a hunting cat as they started coming back toward her. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was now in a quiet panic because she searched for Kim for nearly an hour and not getting any closer to her goal. She had never felt so anxious so quickly before in her life. She was not sure what to make of it, but she pressed on like she always did. She was going to have her way, she told herself.

“I’m going to have my girl,” Shego muttered, scanning the town. She was just as clueless now as she had been when she left the bath.

The innkeeper had not seen Kim leave, nor had he seen Motor Ed or anyone suspicious at all. Her heart had leaped into her throat when he told her that and it had not left since. Making it worse, it seemed to beat just a little faster with every second that passed.

Shego had never felt the way she did now, not even on the many occasions she had lost Drakken; he was so easy to misplace. It made sense that Kim being kidnapped would affect her differently than Drakken being captured by whoever it was they were pissing off at the time, but she did not think it would be as bad as it was. She could not even describe what she felt at the moment, but she did not like it.

Shego could not breathe right thanks to the feeling. Her chest just felt constricted and her stomach felt as if it had descended into her feet. Her guts tied themselves in and out of knots. Her limbs seemed like they were ready to fail her at any given moment and she felt so close to crying that it was made her realize she had forgotten what it felt like to cry. It burned, though. It burned worse than her own plasma.

“It’s been a long time,” she grumbled, referring to something, or even someone, caused her to cry.

But, right now, thinking of what might have happened to Kim tore her up inside. _Does that odd, little adorable samurai mean so much to me_ , she asked herself. She did not even have an idea what that even meant. How could a person who was not related to her in anyway mean so much to her as to spark physical responses in her that she could barely remember being able to feel?

“I hardly even know Kim,” she tried to remind herself, if only to get herself to calm down. What good was she to Kim if she was a nervous-wreck while looking for the redhead? “So, settle down, breathe, and think where an idiot might take your princess.”

Instead, her mind drifted to what Kim might be going through at the moment. She tried her best not to think about what Motor Ed might be doing with her darling little princess. _Surely, Kim-hime will be able to fight him off if he tries anything_ , she tried to assure herself. Kim had defeated her in a fight, after all. _She can handle herself_. But, what if he had men with him? Dozens of men. What if they helped Ed—Stop it, she commanded herself. That was not going to happen. She refused to let happen.

“She’s a warrior. She would never let them…” Shego told herself.

She went out into the streets and asked the people in the town about that blond monkey. People knew Motor Ed, fairly well from what she could tell. They all described him as a weird yakuza leader because he created some sort of cart that drove itself. He had one for every member of his gang. She could care less than nothing about the man’s crazy hobbies. She wanted to know where he spent his time when he was not in the town showing off the fact that he was nuts. No one had an absolute answer for that one, even though they knew so much about him.

“Shimatta,” Shego cursed aloud, standing in the middle of the street. She scratched her head. _Which way should I go?_ Where had Motor Ed taken her Kim?

Her heart began pounding even worse than before as confusion started to take over her body. She started to walk in one direction, only to turn around and go in the opposite direction. She did that several times before she realized she was not getting anywhere. She stopped and took a deep breath to gather herself.

 _Okay, stop, and take moment. What the hell are you so worked up about?_ It did not make any sense, she told herself, that she was nearly going out of her mind with worry over the missing redhead. She did not know Kim that well outside of whatever they had done and discussed when they were at the teahouse. _Yeah, but you revealed layers of yourself that no other being on the planet had seen to that kid in the teahouse_. Of course, there was more to show, but she had started.

“And, I do want to go further,” she admitted in a whisper.

She had taken Kim to her special place on the hill. She had never shown that spot to anyone, not her parents, not her brothers, not even her close friends. It had been nice to have company there. She had always assumed company would ruin her favorite place, as if other human life would soil her hollowed grounds. But, that had not been the case and she took Kim there on more than one occasion because the redhead seemed to only make the place more enjoyable. 

Grunting, Shego shook her head as her lungs burned for air and her eyes stung. Thinking about that was not helping much. She only started to panic more so as she thought about what she had shown Kim. The samurai meant quite a bit to her. It just made her think she needed to find Kim all the more and she was not getting anywhere by just standing there and thinking.

“Okay, if I was a big, stupid yellow monkey with obviously good taste in women, but horrible judgment, where would I go?” Shego asked herself, tapping her chin. She was only slightly pleased that she could not come up with an answer to that question since it proved there was not a part of her that could fathom being brain-dead.

She decided to take to the rooftops. A bird’s eye view might improve her chances of finding some sign of Motor Ed and his crew or at least a sign of Kim. Her eyes were keen, but they did not see anything worthwhile aside from plenty of wheel marks. She would have followed some of those if only she could find out which fresh tracks that she needed to follow. From what she could tell with the trails, those idiots probably just wasted their days riding around on those foolish contraptions.

“Probably drinking while they were at it,” she grumbled and then sighed. “Why can’t it ever be easy?” She meant anything in her life. Every time things seemed to be looking up, there was something that had to bring things down.

She did not see anything from the rooftop, so she leaped down and went to inspect the wheel marks again. She could tell the fresh ones from the old ones, but there were plenty of fresh ones, so she still did not know which to follow. To make matters worse, she did not know which direction they were coming from.

The pale woman sucked her teeth. She was not going to give up. She decided to leave things up to fate. She would go to Kim if things were meant to be that way. She closed her eyes and spun around in a circle three times. She then began walking off in the new direction she faced. It was not the most scientific approach to things, she would admit. But, she trusted her instincts and it got her moving.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim leaped out of the way as Motor Ed and his band drove their vehicles back in her direction for the seventh time. They were having a good time trying to hit her, laughing loudly as they sped by. She doubted she would suffer much physical damage if she did get hit from the speed of the things, but the way that they had spikes positioned on the front, she was sure those would give her one hell of a sting.

“I guess I shouldn’t let them have all the fun,” Kim said. The redhead made a mad dash at vehicles coming at her.

“She’s, like, totally crazy, seriously!” Motor Ed howled in joy as he watched Kim charge their machines. He laughed, thinking about how funny it was going to be when she realized she was acting insane and halted herself to avoid getting impaled.

“You should’ve made these things higher,” Kim declared as she leaped into a kick and practically took one of the driver’s head clean off thanks to their forces meeting.

The kick landed clean on the driver’s cheek and knocked him out just as cleanly. He naturally lost control of the vehicle and veered off of the road right into a tree. His passenger jumped off just in time to miss the impact. It was not particularly hard, but it sent the unconscious driver flying out of the vehicle. 

“Whoa,” Motor Ed muttered in awe when he saw the slender samurai in action.

“Well, that’s one down,” Kim commented with a laugh as she landed.

She went to go make sure work of the other six vehicles along with the thirteen people left to tangle with. It might be a long night, she considered. That thought was not very pleasant since she really wanted to get back to Shego. _Well then, I better wrap things up as soon as possible_. 

The olive-eyed warrior had to leap out of the way of one vehicle and was nearly hit by another when she landed, but she moved just in time. The redhead frowned at the close call. Okay, they wanted to play rough. She could play rough just like them. She drew her katana.

“Thirteen against me, that’s so not fair to you guys,” Kim remarked with a smirk as she charged another vehicle. 

The driver to that machine challenged her just like the last one. He was met with a kick to the face as well. His passenger also jumped from the ride before it fell into a ditch. Kim met the passenger, though. He grimaced as soon as he stood up because her foot was buried in his side. As soon as he was set to scream in pain, her fist was on his cheek. He fell to the ground. 

“Oh, come on! Somebody hit her, seriously!” Motor Ed ordered his bumbling band since they could not put any metal on the young woman.

“Yeah, somebody hit me, seriously,” Kim mocked them with a laugh.

A vehicle turned to mow the cocky samurai down, but she flipped out of the way. Another ride came at her from a different angle and Kim had to jump over it. She took a swing at the driver with her katana and nearly severed his hand from his arm. He screamed in utter agony as blood gushed from his wound, but he did not lose control of the car. She landed behind him. 

“You bitch!” the driver raged and he swung the invention around to crush her.

“I guess I pissed him off,” Kim muttered to herself as she noticed the vehicle came back around for a second try.

The redhead doubted she could be able to build up enough speed to do another kick attack. She quickly thought of a backup plan and leaped into the air as soon as the driver was about to hit her. She managed to connect her knee with his jaw. His head snapped back brutally and he was out like a candle. The ride hit a tree with the passenger exiting just before the crash.

“Oh, come on! Seriously, do I have to do everything myself?” Motor Ed demanded in a fury, but he smiled. He really wanted that girl back now and not out of anger. She was just turning him on with the aggressive display.

“I’m not as easy as I look, huh?” Kim taunted the group as she went to take care of the most recent ride-less gangster. He fell as easily as his comrades.

The remaining thugs were having about just as much attitude as they could bear from the slender redhead. One of them pulled out a weapon that Kim did not expect, a rifle. Once she made it home, she hoped she would never see another gun again. The heavens knew she had seen enough from the one trip to last a life time. And then, a shot was fired. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego heard a gunshot. Lord, she was so sick of guns, but she took off toward the sound of the shot. It was in the direction she headed anyway, but she was heading there much faster now. She hoped the shot was not directed at the person that she was looking for, but with her luck, she was willing to bet it was. She just hoped the shot did not mean something truly bad, like Kim was injured. If Kim was hurt, people would taste her plasma at full force and until she just could not sustain the charge anymore, whether there were bits of the assailants left or not.

She caught sight of something in the distance, but she could not make it out completely. She considered her eyes might have been fooling her because the first thing she saw were the vehicles Motor Ed and his lot used, but then she saw Kim jumping all over the place. As she got closer to the battlefield, she could see the destruction brought and was willing to bet Kim was the one who delivered because some rides were laid out and some thugs appeared worse off than their rides. Kim also did not seem injured at all, so the gunshot had not hit her; it had come damn close, though.

“At least she saved me the big monkey,” Shego smirked when she saw Motor Ed was not beaten up like some of his men. 

The pale woman charged into the fight with a predatory glint in her eyes. She ran right by Kim, who was landing from hopping over a vehicle. The redhead noticed her companion go by her, but did not pay her any mind since she had enemies to take care of. After all, she did not want to almost get shot again. Shego had her sights set on one person and nothing was going to stray her from that path. The vehicle she wanted was not even paying her any mind and she came in from the side, leading in with a heavy fist.

“Guess who?” Shego snarled as she landed her fist right on the chin of Motor Ed.

“Wha?” the blond wondered in a dazed tone as the blow forced him out of his invention.

Motor Ed collided his sidekick because she had hit him from the passenger side. The force she packed pushed them both out of the vehicle. Both males tumbled as they hit the ground, skidding in the dirt. 

Shego ended up in the vehicle and behind the steering wheel. She had no clue what was going on, but she took hold of the wheel. Motor Ed sat up just in time to notice and he face fell, looking totally aghast with the image of Shego driving his invention. 

“What the hell is this thing?” Shego mumbled, trying to figure out what she should be doing. “And how the hell do you control it?” she added in a shout as she saw she was going straight toward another vehicle.

“Ah, that green babe’s gonna totally wreck my baby, seriously!” Motor Ed griped with a sullen expression in his eyes. 

Needless to say, Ed was correct on that matter. Shego drove right into the other vehicle in her path. She figured, hey, it was there and she was looking to take down the gang and the vehicle did not mean anything to her. So, why even bother trying to get out of the way, not that she could if she wanted to.

The impact was not harsh, but it did put the vehicles out of commission because they were impaled on each other thanks to the spikes on the front of the contraptions. Shego stood up and kicked the closest guy to her, who was the passenger in the other vehicle. The driver pulled out a pistol and aimed at Shego.

Chuckling, Shego smiled. “You might want to look behind you.”

The guy actually turned around instead of pointing out that was the oldest trick in the book. He was met by Kim’s fist anyway and knocked out cold. Shego laughed a bit; he was damned if he did and damned if he did not.

“You’ve got these guys?” Shego asked Kim. 

“Piece of cake,” Kim answered with a confidence that Shego absolutely adored.

“Then I’m going to give that dumb monkey what for,” the pale woman remarked.

“By your leave,” Kim joked.

They both chuckled and Shego was pleased to have Kim’s permission to go after the leader. After all, Kim could have easily claimed the big ape since he was the reason all of this happened.

Kim turned her attention back to the remaining gangsters. She still had her long sword in hand, just in case some things tried to be more difficult than others. She also kept a careful eye out to anyone who might have guns on them. At least they only fired a single shot, she thought. Sure, the shot had been dangerously close to her head, but it could have been worse.

Shego ran right back toward Motor Ed, who was climbing to his feet. He noticed the green-skinned warrior coming at him and he pulled a gun out from the inside of his ugawi. He smirked at her and she smirked in return as he aimed the pistol at her. 

“It’s stupid of you to point that thing at me, just like it was when you took my princess. You’re just all around idiotic so far in my opinion,” Shego boasted.

“I’d totally watch who I call idiotic when someone’s pointing a gun at me, seriously,” Motor Ed replied.

“Well, that’s probably something that makes us different. I hope it’s a long, long list. I’m going to add something else to it right now. I’m willing to bet that only one of us can do this.” Shego flared her hands with her plasma. “I wonder which one of us it is.” She smirked like the demon she knew she was about to be accused of being.

“What the hell are you, some kind of oni (demon)?” Motor Ed demanded with a puzzled frown and scrunched up brow. He thought there was something different about her with the green skin, but now she was lighting her hands on fire. He did not understand it, but he would not let something he did not comprehend frighten him. 

“To make things easy on your monkey brain, let’s say yeah. I’m an oni that you really pissed off by stealing her princess,” Shego replied with a bit of a growl.

“I can still, like, totally shoot you, seriously,” he pointed out as if he was in total control of the situation. 

“I don’t think you can,” she stated as if she was in complete control of the situation. It would seem one of them was going to be proven wrong by the end of the standoff. 

“What makes you think that, seriously?” he inquired with an arched eyebrow. He thought she was really stupid if she thought he would not be able to shoot her because he certainly had plans to do so if she did not back off.

“Because I can also do this.” Shego flung a plasma sphere at Motor Ed, which surprised him and connected before he had time to totally comprehend what it was.

The blond fell to the ground and dropped his pistol. Shego was not done yet. She was way too angry to be done with him yet. He dared tried to take someone who meant quite a bit to her, more to her than she even knew if her earlier panicked reaction meant anything. In her lonely existence, searching for some kind of meaning in her freedom, he dared to take the one person who seemed to offer her something beyond entertainment. It outraged her like nothing else in recent times.

Leaning down, she punched him directly in the face. He grunted and his nose gushed blood. He moved like he was about to get up, but she shoved him back into the dust with another punch. She proceeded to punch him in the face until he was just stopped moving and his eyes lulled into the back of his head. She had no idea if she killed him or not and she sincerely did not care.

Shego stood up and turned her attention to Kim. The redhead seemed to be having some fun finishing up the few goons that were left. Shego guessed she had been worried over nothing. Kim had things under control, even with a gun being brought into things.

“I knew I should’ve just had faith in her. I mean, she defeated me, after all,” Shego said. Of course, even now, that did not ease her discomfort. If Kim went missing tomorrow, she was certain she would have the same reaction and work just as hard to get Kim back.

The olive-eyed samurai used pretty much the same tactic against all of the bad guys, not even having to bother with using her sword on them. They did not learn from their mistakes. Kim would not complain about that. As soon as she finished off the last guy, she looked around for Shego. She spotted the pale woman standing a few feet away from her, just watching her. Kim smiled, as did Shego and she walked over.

“You are quite impressive,” the emerald-eyed woman commented, standing directly in front of her companion. She wanted to just take the shorter female into her arms and hug her tightly while placing grateful kisses all over her face, but she refrained because Kim did not seem as overwhelmed as she was. She suspected she had taken things more seriously than the teen had.

“You should see me when it’s a challenge,” Kim boasted with a confident smile as she sheathed her weapon back on her hip.

“Impressive and cocky. For some reason, I like these things about you,” Shego admitted as if it was nothing. Maybe she liked the fact that Kim could back up her words. She had not met many people like that in life.

“So, what should we do now?” Kim asked. They were already down a road and she was pretty sure it was in the direction that they were heading in, so they could start walking on to the next town. 

“What do you mean? We already paid for that hotel room. We’re going to live it up while we got it,” Shego answered quite seriously. She never let something go to waste once it was paid for.

“Okay, then come on,” Kim agreed with that. “I still need a bath.”

Shego nodded and she put her arm around Kim’s shoulders. “And I still need a bath with you.”

They started walking back toward the town. If Ed and his band of maniacs wanted to go at it again tomorrow, it was fine by them since they would still be in town and that was if Ed was still alive. For the moment, they would have a hot bath and a comforting rest in the hotel room. Maybe they would discuss, or at least ponder, what they were to each other. And maybe, Shego would show her appreciation of Kim being unharmed by those idiots.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim and Shego return to the hotel room and explore just what they are to each other.


	20. Spiritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

20: Spiritual 

Kim and Shego returned to their hotel room after a fairly busy evening and it was not busy in a manner they wanted it to be. They had just had a brush with Motor Ed and his gang. They figured that they taught those clowns a lesson. Hell, Shego might have killed Motor Ed, but she was not too sure and much to her surprise, she did not care. He had taken someone special and dear to her and all that mattered was that he felt her wrath once she got that person back, even though Kim was unharmed and actually kicking butt when Shego arrived. She probably would have reduced him to ashes if something had happened to Kim. 

Shego still had hopes she and Kim would get to some things she thought they would do before the kidnapping incident. After all, they had gotten the hotel room. They were supposed to share a bath earlier and Kim expressed interest in getting back to that. She hoped that remained the case when they finally took a moment to process the day.

The pale woman was little worked up having watched Kim kick some butt. She never thought something like an all-out battle could be so hot. She had watched guys kick the crap out of each other in dojos or even on the street and, yes, if she found herself intrigued with one of the guys, the fighting could be somewhat hot. Comparing Kim in combat to the others was like comparing a fish’s swimming to a stone’s swimming, though. It was not nearly the same thing; it could not even be called the same thing really.

Kim’s movements and fighting was the pinnacle of erotica as far as Shego was concerned. She had not thought anything could be that burning hot and attractive. Well, she did not think that anything could get to her in such a way, anyway. She was rather incredulous to the way that Kim made her feel, even if it was just a lustful feeling at the moment. So, she hoped they would get to try to do some naughty things that night. Hopefully, more than what they did while it rained.

Kim was not looking at things in the same way. She was a little embarrassed she had been kidnapped first of all. She was a master samurai and knew dozens of martial arts, some forgotten by even the oldest of clans. Yet, she had been pretty much been stolen by a monkey. It seemed rather pathetic in her opinion.

Kim hoped Shego did not bring it up or ask questions about anything. She also hoped what happened did not lower Shego’s opinion of her. If the pale warrior looked down on her, she was certain she would feel a lot worse than she did about getting kidnapped.

 _Why do I feel that way?_ Kim did not have the answer. Why would Shego looking down on her be just about the worst thing possible to her? What did those feelings mean? This beyond friendship, but what were these feelings exactly? She had never felt anything like it and she just wished she could make sense of the matter, especially since it seemed rather intense. She hated being confused, especially about her own emotions. It was her body and mind, so she should know exactly what was going on in her opinion. 

“You okay?” Shego asked because Kim’s face was scrunched up and her mouth was torn down in a little pout.

“Yeah,” Kim replied, but she did not elaborate. They just sat in the room silently. Kim did not even mention the bath, even though she still wanted to do it.

“So…” Shego said, hoping to start a conversation of some kind. Anything that might get her and her companion to stop staring at the plain beige walls of their room and get their evening back on track.

They seemed at such a loss with each other. Shego wondered if they would ever get back to how they were before when Kim was pretending to be a maiko. Would she ever be able to relax about Kim like she had around Akako-chan? Would she be able to fall asleep in Kim’s lap like she had done that night with Akako-chan?

Shego’s mouth almost fell open as she thought about that fateful night. The night she could have gotten arrested, but she had fallen asleep after drinking too much sake, sake the redhead had practically forced upon her. She had missed the raid that night. It was as if that was purposely done. Was it? Had Kim tried to save her from being arrested? She had never considered that and then her thoughts were thrown off as Kim replied to her “so.”

“So…” Kim echoed for lack of a better thing to say. She would not mind them talking. She wanted things to seem normal between them, like before at the teahouse where none of their silences were awkward as it was at the moment. She was sure that they could get back to that level of comfort.

“Well, I guess I could ask you about something that was just on my mind. That night back at the teahouse where I fell asleep, did you do that on purpose?” the plasma-wielder inquired bluntly.

“When you fell asleep? Oh… I guess I did,” the redhead sort of admitted with a shrug. She was not sure why she could not just confirm it because it had been done on purpose. She supposed she just did not want to explain it because she was not too sure if she would be able to explain it. After all, at the time, she had not even been to admit to herself why she had done it.

“You guess? You either did or you didn’t,” Shego pointed out.

“Fine, I did,” Kim confessed with a sigh.

And then came the question that Kim did not want to hear. “Why?” Shego inquired.

The samurai sighed and rubbed her forehead. Why had she done it? Well, she had done it because she thought Yojimbo-san deserved a second chance because Yojimbo-san had not seemed totally bad. She thought as long as Yojimbo-san was not in the company of those idiotic plotters then there was a chance something good could happen to the bodyguard as long as Yojimbo-san remained free. But, there was the question of why she had taken it upon herself to try to save Shego. 

“Well,” the pale woman pressed. She really wanted to know the reason behind it considering the fact that Kim was actually a spy for the Shogun. Why had a spy helped her?

Kim sighed and rubbed her forehead again, as if that would force the answers they both wanted. She looked Shego in the eyes, like that would give her the answers. Shego was skeptical it would help, but then olive eyes went wide. It seemed like the sudden realization came to Kim. Shego could not wait to hear this.

“Out of everything I told myself for why I did that, I always glanced over the simplest, easiest explanation. I just… I told you the reason actually. I liked you when I thought you were Yojimbo-san,” Kim began. 

“Enough to let a traitor go free?” Shego inquired with a slightly wrinkled forehead. It was hard to believe. 

“Well, one, I’m not some inu like you seem to think.”

Shego shook her head. “I don’t think that anymore.” 

Nodding, Kim licked her lips and decided to continue. “I liked you like a woman is supposed to like a man and like I said before, it hasn’t gone away. I knew I’d lose you that night, but I didn’t want your life to end, so I tried to protect you, like a woman would try to protect her man. And I still feel that. I’d do it again right now if I had to. Is that strange?” Orange hair cascaded over Kim’s shoulder as she tilted her head in curiosity. She was not ashamed, even if it turned out to be strange. She could not see a reason to be ashamed of her feelings for Shego because of how wonderful the sensation was.

Shego offered a half-smile as her answer to that question. She realized Kim worried about her as much as she worried about Kim. She never would have thought she could worry about someone so much if Motor Ed had not stolen the little redhead away. Kim had tried to save her life; she was flattered.

Shego could not think of anyone who would have gone out of their way for her like that. Most people who tried to save her lectured her and told her how to live her life. They talked down to her and, yes, Kim had done something a little out of line, but still, she saved Shego from certain arrest.

The pale woman moved closer to Kim; they had been sitting in the room with almost a foot of space between them. She put her arm around the younger warrior and pulled Kim to lean into her. The younger woman did not resist and decided she liked being held by Shego in any way that was offered. She put her arms around Shego’s waist, pressing herself to the green-skinned woman even more. 

“No, I don’t think it’s strange,” Shego finally replied.

Kim smiled a little, even though she still wondered what she and Shego were. She was aware she was attracted to the pale warrior in the way that a woman was supposed to be attracted to a man, but it went beyond that. She had respect for Shego as a warrior and looked at her as a friend, too. It was the strangest sensation and it seemed to grow with every second that she spent with Shego, no matter what they were doing. What was the feeling?

Shego was as confused as Kim. She understood her physical attraction to Kim, as she had always been secretly attracted to females, even though her parents tried their best to discourage such a thing. She remembered when she was little and they caught her kissing a girl. The girl was a good friend of hers at the time and they had actually kissed on several occasions. Sometimes, they got caught and, sometimes, they did not. Her mother could not believe her eyes while her father had tried to explain as best he could it was not right for two girls to kiss each other such a romantic manner. No matter how much he explained it, it never fully reached her brain as to what was wrong with it. She had tried her best to hide it and she had done things with men, but always her original attraction lay underneath her skin apparently.

She also understood the attraction building when she saw Kim fight. Sure, when Kim was pretending to be a maiko, she was cute, utterly adorable really. But, she was sort of that way when she was just sitting still, but once she got to fighting, she suddenly became sexy. A sexy little fox, _her_ sexy little fox.

But, beyond her physical attraction to Kim, her feelings did confuse her. They seemed too intense for her liking. She panicked so badly when the redhead went missing that she was close to tears and she did not like that at all. Why did she care about Kim so much? Had the girl’s comfort done that, the comfort that she had brought as Akako? It was such a curious thing. 

Then there was the fierce possession she felt in regards to Kim. She was possessive of anything she thought was hers, she was very much aware of that. Whenever people had told her that Drakken was a moron and she would always agree with them that he was, but he was _her_ moron. She was nowhere near as possessive of him as she was of Kim, though. She had never been as possessive of a person as she had realized she was with Kim when she found out that Kim was missing over an hour ago.

It showed to Shego that Kim sort of had a power over her, a power to bring out her emotions, strongly on certain occasions. It was not something she was accustomed to. Sure, she was possessive and got pissed when people took things that were hers, but she never panicked. She never got choked up about things or near tears or anything like that until Kim went missing. How could Kim make her feel that way? Why was Kim able to make her feel that way? She just did not understand it. She was not even sure if she liked it, even though she was certain that she liked Kim.

“Shego…” the teenager said, breaking a long moment of silence and interrupting Shego’s thoughts again.

“Yes?” the raven-haired warrior answered.

“I don’t know what to consider us,” Kim admitted. She figured Shego might have a better idea as to what they were since Shego seemed so deliberate in her actions and seemed to know what she wanted. 

“That makes two of us,” Shego remarked. “But, let’s think outside the box with it,” she added. She figured their relationship had to be somewhat unique, so there probably was not something they could just call themselves and be accurate about things. 

“Okay,” Kim concurred, even though she did not know what Shego meant by that.

“What do you think we should be?” Shego asked.

The olive-eyed samurai shrugged. She was not sure what she thought they should be. If Shego was a male, maybe she could figure out they were somewhat like lovers, but with Shego being a woman, it was baffling. She would not go so far as to say she was in love with Shego. She felt something deep for the woman, but it was not love, even though she did not know what it was like to be in love.

Could someone fall in love with a person she had only known for a couple of months and they had not been totally honest with each other? Neither Kim nor Shego had the answer to that question. What was love, anyway? Did they need to label what they felt? Well, it would certainly help make things less perplexing.

“I don’t know,” Kim finally answered. She did not even know what the emotions were. She did not understand why they were there. How could Shego make her feel so sweetly confused by only spending time with her back at a teahouse?

Shego chuckled a bit. She was glad Kim was honest. She was not sure what she would label them either, but if they were average, she probably would dare to say that Kim was her girlfriend. She probably would have dared that thought back at the teahouse if she had been thinking about it enough. She had been doing things with Kim that she figured a guy would do with a girl that he liked and wanted to impress in a way. She had gone out of her to show Kim a good time and she had taken her from the teahouse more than once because she knew that the redhead did not want to be there. She had gone out of her way to spend time with the redhead, which was rare for her to with a person. She had wanted to impress Kim. She just not bothered to look at things like that at the time to realize that Kim was more than a friend to her.

“You’re my little kitsune,” Shego decided to tell her companion and she nuzzled Kim’s hair.

Before Kim could express offense to that nickname, and she was going to express deep offense to it, Shego leaned down and kissed Kim softly. The samurai accepted the show of affection and soon felt a hand pressing gently against her cheek, caressing her rather fondly. Their lips continued to touch tenderly as seconds passed. They were not sure how they would describe the kiss, but they figured heavenly would suffice. It was like touching paradise.

“Definitely mine,” Shego whispered because she would not let anyone else have Kim. She would not give up someone who made her feel like she was in heaven just from the feel of her lips.

“And?” Kim said, lacking anything better to say. 

“I’ll be yours. What do you want, an oni to go along with your being a kitsune?” Shego asked with a teasing smile. She would be whatever Kim wanted.

“I don’t like being thought of as a kitsune.” A small moue settled on Kim’s face. She did not mean to make the expression, but she disliked the notion and the nickname and it did not occur to her to be angry with Shego for dubbing her such a thing.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re my little kitsune and you better be loyal to me,” Shego playfully threatened, tapping the end of Kim’s nose. She had a feeling she did not need to seriously say such a thing to Kim. She could tell the young woman was hers and could not, would not stray.

Kim frowned. She really disliked the fox jokes and things. What was with people and her being a fox? Did she look like a fox? Not in her opinion, aside from her hair color. Okay, her hair matched a fox’s fur to a certain extent, but she did not think it warranted all the fox garbage that she had to put up with. She really did not think that her actions should have gotten her branded as a fox by anyone.

“I’m going to make you like the name,” Shego commented to get Kim to stop looking like she had just called the teen something worse than a whorish bitch.

“I doubt it,” the samurai grumbled. 

Shego smirked. “You know I like a challenge, Princess.”

Shego went in for another kiss, if only for Kim to get the idea that the name was not going to go away. Kim was now her princess and her fox. Kim was just hers. It was the best way that she could put it and she thought that it was a good way to put things.

The redhead accepted the kiss. Was Shego on to something? Was it just that she was Shego’s and Shego was hers, end of the mystery? Could anything really be that simple? The kiss made it seem that way. The kiss seemed to make things make sense while it was going on, probably because it did not allot her as much of her brain to think about things as just sitting there did.

Since Kim accepted the embrace, Shego decided to deepen the kiss. She gently lapped at Kim’s lips and the redhead gave into the silent request. She opened her mouth and Shego’s tongue entered as expected. It was greeted by Kim’s tongue and they both moaned from the meeting. 

After a few seconds later, Shego lowered Kim to the futon that she had out while making sure to not break the kiss. The younger warrior did not seem to guess what Shego had planned until she started feeling hands working on her obi. Something inside of her panicked at that and she pulled away from Shego as best she could. It was enough to get the older warrior’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” Shego inquired. She thought they had worked past Kim feeling anxious about everything or her thinking their attraction was wrong. She could not figure out what other problems the redhead might have about them being together. 

“I don’t know. I just sort of… felt weird,” Kim answered. Her stomach quivered a little, but it felt like her nerves buzzed with energy.

Shego squinted a little, causing her eyebrows to draw in close. “Weird?”

“Like I’m not ready to do whatever it is you’re planning,” the redhead explained as best she could. She was not sure what it was that Shego could even do. She knew enough about biology to know they could not to do what it seemed like Shego wanted to do, but she was nervous to the point that it felt like they were going to do that. It did not help matters that she had no desire to be seen without her clothing if it could be helped. 

“It’s okay,” Shego said, stroking Kim’s side, wanting to keep her calm. “I’d never do anything to hurt you… well, emotionally anyway. I’d like to spare with you one day if I can.”

Kim smiled a little. “I know.”

Shego figured it was Kim’s first time being with anyone. She would not be surprised if she was Kim’s first kiss; she was right about that. Shego recalled her first time and she had been extremely aggressive to stave off any feelings of nervousness. Her time had nothing to do with having deep feelings for the man. She just got turned on by the way he fought and how many opponents he was able to take down and she wanted to prove to herself that she had gotten over the attraction that her parents so desperately wanted to rid her of. It had not been a great experience and the only thing that got her through it was the need to prove she could be normal. She did not want her time with Kim, anytime with Kim, to be like that.

“It’s okay,” Shego repeated and she placed a tender peck on Kim’s lips, hoping to soothe the teen’s nerves. 

Kim was not surprised by the understanding Shego showed her, even though she was had already figured out Shego was kind of bad-tempered. She was not surprised because Shego seemed nice to her back when they spent time at the teahouse. Since Shego was not acting too different from what Kim recalled from Yojimbo-san, Kim considered the time at the teahouse might have been reality might have been in earnest with them, even if they were hiding things. 

“Shego, do you think what we had back at the teahouse was real?” Kim asked quietly, staring into emerald eyes.

“Just as real as this. It’s what led to this, isn’t it?” Shego countered, hand still caressing Kim’s side. She was still positioned over Kim, but she was not making any moves to do more. She did not want to add to the anxiety that Kim still had. 

“I wish it would always be real,” Kim added and she did not even realize the next words to come out of her mouth until they were out. “I think I’d rather be in that gilded cage with you than where we’re going now.”

Shego smiled softly, fondly. She was doing that a lot more around Kim and she noticed that, but did not really care. She noted the light, warm feeling that spread through her entire being because of those words and who spoke them. The redhead cared deeply for her. She moved her hand and caressed Kim’s cheek with her fingertips, being extremely cautious with her claws to avoid harming her companion.

“No, you wouldn’t. I don’t think either of us could stand a gilded cage. As far as where we are now, we’ve got to move forward, kitsune. That’s just the way life is. Try not to despair. Life’s about having a good time,” Shego replied and she gave Kim a small kiss. 

“Why do you always sound so wise?” the samurai wondered out loud with a half-smile. She had always considered herself pretty smart, especially for someone her age, but Shego said things that just left her in awe.

“I just say what’s on my mind, Princess. I say what I think and what I’ve seen. It’s your life, so you should do what you want. When someone else starts living the life that’s yours then they could do whatever the hell they want with it,” Shego remarked with a bit of a smile.

Kim smiled, too; it was a near grin. Shego then sat up, which caused Kim to follow suit because she wondered what Shego was doing. The emerald-eyed woman grabbed her futon and tugged it over to the one that Kim was on. She lined the two mattresses up side by side.

“I hope you’re ready for me to sleep next to you, hime,” the pale woman remarked, still smiling. She was rather happy to be able to sleep next to Kim in a regular bed. It was nice to be the type of happy that she was, she noted; where she did not have to degrade anyone or mock someone for the feeling, even though those situations tended to lead to amusement, not happiness. This was different. This was amazing. 

Kim made a strange noise, sort of like a tiny yelp, and nodded in agreement. They had slept next to each other already, but not in proper bed, nor had it been planned out loud. Hearing it and seeing it unfold before her was different, but she was definitely not opposed to the idea.

“Is it okay?” Shego asked, just to be sure. 

Kim nodded. “Yes.”

So, Shego finished the set up and then they did something that they usually would not do while in an unfamiliar location, they began to undress. They both had to mentally tell themselves not to be self-conscious about things. After all, they had planned to see each other in the bath earlier.

Frowning, Kim scolded herself for not following through with taking a bath when they got back to the hotel. She was just so embarrassed by what happened earlier that she felt awkward about it. Now, she had get undressed with Shego around anyway.

Kim, still being a neat freak about her things, had to fold her outer kimono just right when she took it off at the bath. By the time Kim was getting to her hakama, Shego was already down to nothing but a white yukata, which she had on underneath her other clothes.

Shego just watched Kim neatly fold her hakama when she got those off. Shego had folded her hakama, but not in any proper fashion. She threw her kimono down in a heap because she was going to retire that cloth as soon as she had a chance. She did not care about the kimono. The hakama were probably going to be trashed, too, as soon as she could get another pair. So, there was really no point in her opinion in trying to preserve the gear. 

Inspecting Kim’s things, Shego felt like Kim should get rid of her clothing as well. Their fight as well as their time in the cave and rain had not been kind to their clothing. She supposed she would just buy Kim some new clothes when she got her own new stuff. 

Once Kim was done, she was down to her own yukata. She turned her attention to Shego and nearly let out a shocked “eek” noise because she had not been expecting Shego’s yukata to be so short. Shego’s yukata was not even mid-thigh length; she had cut it, like she did with all of her undergarments. It was for a practical reason, not to look sexy, even though Shego was very aware she looked damn sexy. If she was not aware, the wide-eyed stare from Kim definitely let her know.

Shego did not like layers of clothes because she already sported a fever pitch of a body temperature. If a person touched her, the person could tell she was hotter than the average person, but not to the point where the person could guess what it was like if she put on a bunch of clothing. She never looked forward to being trapped in layers because of how hot she already was internally and clothes never helped. It was a concept her parents never understood and they used to put her in layers of kimonos all of the time. 

“Careful, Princess, you can catch flies with your mouth open like that,” Shego remarked and she leaned over to kiss Kim’s slightly open mouth.

The samurai was still in a bit of a daze when Shego pulled away, but she shook it off. Shego blew out the lanterns that illuminated the room and then returned to the bed. They both lay down and Shego pulled Kim close to her. The redhead did not resist in any manner. 

They lay there silently and then Kim did something she thought was weird for her, but she did not seem to have any control over it. Her left hand walked across Shego’s bare leg. It was slow at first, like she was waiting to be reprimanded for her actions, but she was not admonished at all. So, she continued stroking the limb, finding she liked the way the muscular thigh felt. The skin underneath her fingertips was soft and tempting. Eventually she ran her whole hand up and down the leg and Shego thoroughly enjoyed the attention to the point that she purred. 

Neither of them said a word throughout Kim’s actions. Shego just figured she would allow Kim to get comfortable with the idea of touching her body. It was not like she disliked it and from the way that the younger warrior continued on, she believed Kim enjoyed the exploration, too.

The samurai was rather intent on her work. Her heartbeat accelerated as she went on feeling Shego’s legs. The more she touched the flesh, the more flesh she wanted to touch. She did not go too far, though, thinking she might be out of line if she did. She did not want to do anything that might be seen as extreme or she might have to stop the little that she was doing.

After a while, Shego could not take the action anymore. She leaned down and captured Kim’s mouth in a rather forceful kiss, letting Kim know the caressing turned her on and she was at her boiling point already. Kim returned the kiss and continued on stroking Shego’s legs.

“You taste so good,” Shego whispered as she pulled away for air.

“You feel good,” Kim replied, whole palm pressed against Shego’s thigh.

Shego decided to push the line a little, moving a hand to press against Kim’s covered breast. “You feel good, too.” She gave a gentle squeeze and got a moan from Kim. 

Kim pushed herself up, starting another kiss. Shego wasted no time returning it. She gave Kim’s breast another squeeze, earning another moan. Kim’s hand squeezed Shego’s thigh just a little. That was pretty much their activity for the night until they fell asleep, hugged up very close.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Kim and Shego woke up from just about the most peaceful sleep that either of them had ever had. They also woke up to what they believed was the best sight ever, which was each other. They greeted each other with a kiss and even some light groping, making sure to take their time in getting up.

“I like having you all over me,” Shego commented with a chuckle. Kim was pretty much draped over her. She hoped Kim took this as an invitation to sleep on her whenever they laid down.

“You’re comfortable,” Kim admitted, her hand scratching at Shego’s thigh.

“And you’re cute, my little kitsune,” Shego said, kissing the top of Kim’s head.

“No,” Kim groaned.

“Yes,” Shego teased, giving Kim another kiss, making it deep and affectionate. They pulled away for air, but went right back in for more kisses.

Once they did get out of the bed, they got dressed and then went out for breakfast. They looked around for any sign of Motor Ed and his group, but none of them were out and about. The town’s people seemed to appreciate the peace and quiet. They whispered about how nice it was that Ed and his goons had not rode into town yet acting like wild hooligans. Kim and Shego did not say anything about their part in Motor Ed’s probable absence because they did not see the point.

“I hope he stays gone,” Kim said.

“I’m sure these people feel the same way,” Shego remarked.

The duo got their breakfast and grabbed some things for the road. They then set out on the path leading out of the town. They even went passed the battleground from last night, seeing some of the vehicle parts still scattered about, but no sign of the gang. They did not really care. Shego put her arm around Kim’s shoulders and the redhead smiled at the older warrior as they continued walking toward the future.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim gets upset with Shego and they run into some trouble in the form of killer plant life.


	21. Sprouting Seedlings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

21: Sprouting Seedlings

Kim and Shego strolled down a narrow pathway through some cliffs. They had gotten off the main highway to avoid any more checkpoints. Kim did not do as well at checkpoints as she liked to pretend; it seemed inspectors were more likely to believe her passport when she was with Ron for some reason that was beyond her. They had already gone through two checkpoints and even though Kim’s papers were all official and everything, inspectors seemed to like to bug her. Shego guessed the inspectors thought Kim would just take the abuse and as tolerant as Kim tried to play it, she had a nice little temper on her, which Shego thought was hot as long as it was not directed at her. 

“You know, I’ve figured something out,” Shego said, taking her arms out of her sleeves, She put her arm around her little kitsune since there was no one around.

“What?” Kim asked, leaning into the older warrior. She had her hands in her sleeves and held her elbows.

“You’re a troublemaker,” the plasma-wielder smiled. Her eyes even shined, but this was different from her usual teasing.

Kim frowned and reeled back just a little, definitely not enough to move Shego’s arm. “What?” She was a hero, not a troublemaker. She helped people. She did not start trouble with anyone.

“I like troublemaking kitsune best of all,” Shego remarked, leaning in and placing a few gentle pecks on Kim’s cheek.

The redhead giggled a little bit because of the tender, soft sensation. The best thing about getting off of the main road was that they did not have to worry about a bunch of people seeing them hugged up together, which happened quite often. Though neither of them said it or even thought it, they reveled in each other’s presence because with every step they took they were closer to the end of their reality… for the second time.

They tried their best to never think of what was at the end of the road and they were successful in that. For the moment, being together was the truth and being apart was an impossibility. It was like there was no future in their minds, only now. And since there was no future, there was no reason to consider where their journey ended and what would happen when they did find themselves walking separate paths.

“I’m not a troublemaker, especially not a troublemaking kitsune,” Kim argued in a very civil tone. She was already taking less offense to the idea being called a “kitsune,” even though it had only been decided a few days ago that Shego would use that nickname, whether Kim liked it or not. The problem with the statement was that it dubbed her a “troublemaker” more than anything else.

Chuckling a bit, Shego arched an ebony eyebrow. “Really?” Then she gave a nonchalant shrug. “Well, I’m going to have to go find a troublemaking kitsune then. Got no use for non-troublemaking kitsune.” She removed her arm from around Kim’s shoulder.

The olive-eyed samurai tried to pretend that she did not care about the limb missing. She stared straight ahead. Shego did the same while folding her arms back the way that she had them, putting them in her sleeves and holding her elbows. Both of their jaws tightened as they continued their journey. With each step they took, they got a little tenser from the small space that was between them now. It was not even inches, but it might as well had been miles as far as their bodies and minds were concerned.

“So…” Kim said, needing a distraction. She was not looking to fill the silence for any particular reason other than to forget that she desired to have that arm back around her, pressing her into the magnificent form of her cohort. 

“No, don’t try that now. It’s too late,” Shego replied, putting her chin in the air.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” Kim huffed. 

“You were going to beg me to hold you again, but nope, too late for that now.” Shego shook her head and tried to fight off a smile. She failed.

Scowling, Kim glared at her companion. “What?” she snorted. As if she would beg anyone for anything at all. Why the very idea was… not so insulting or farfetched coming from Shego. _Damn it_. Well, she still was not going to do that anyway, so it did not even matter.

“You know you were.” Shego taunted her with a smirk. Her eyes almost sparkled when she teased Kim. There was a strange level of joy that came over her when she did it, something light and warm. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she was not looking to be malicious. This was all so new to her. 

Kim scoffed. “You wish I was. If anyone around here ever does any begging, it’ll be you.” She gave Shego a playful smirk of her own.

“Please, I’d sooner kick your ass than beg you for anything.” 

Olive eyes rolled. “Keep telling yourself that, but no one kick’s Possible-sensei’s little baby girl’s ass.”

Shego laughed at that because she thought Kim was too proper to swear, but she guessed she was wrong. It was good to know the kid was not totally proper, even though she did have to fold everything the right way. She liked learning new things about the redhead, beyond the noble-class kid who hated playing the shamisen. It only made her like Kim all the more. The only thing that made that task a little difficult was that Shego did not ask questions.

“Possible-sensei?” Shego muttered to herself. Now, she was curious about Kim’s parents, about her family. She knew about the Possible clan in the sense that everyone knew about them, but she did not know anything about individuals in the family. She never cared about people’s lives the way she did about Kim’s. It was just a little annoying and that was only because it was something new, but since it involved her traveling companion that made it almost completely all right with her.

Kim was actually curious about Shego’s family, too. She did not even know Shego’s family name. She wondered about Shego’s past and how things got to where they were for Shego. Where was Shego from? Why did she leave specifically? When did she leave her home? There was so much to know about the pale woman in Kim’s opinion and she wanted to know everything, so she could be closer to Shego. And, unlike the green-skinned warrior, she was willing to ask as many questions as necessary to sate her curiosity.

“Hey, Shego,” Kim said. 

“What?” Shego kept her eyes ahead, as if ignoring Kim. 

“Do you have any family?” she asked out of the blue it seemed. She said it in a soft tone, in case it was a touchy subject. It was always possible that something negative happened to her companion’s family.

Shego glanced over at Kim without turning her head. She made it a habit to never talk about her family for several reasons, but mostly because she did not want people to know about them. It partially had to do with a desire to be judged on her own merits and not through her family, but there were other reasons she would rather not think about at the moment, like how irksome they were. She was not too sure if she wanted to answer that question, even though it was Kim asking. 

“What does it matter?” Shego countered with a shrug. It seemed like the safest thing to do.

“I just wanted to know. I would tell you about my family if you asked.”

“But, I didn’t.” 

“But, if you did, I would answer because you asked. I want to know about you and where you came from.”

Shego did not respond and Kim tensed up because of that. Why was Shego being so closed off? Was she good enough to feel up, but not worthy of any information on Shego’s life? And to think, she actually cared about the older warrior, only to be treated as if she was totally untrustworthy with general background information!

Kim snorted in deep anger and turned her attention straight ahead again. She fumed to the point that almost came off of her in intense waves. It would have been more kind of Shego to punch her in the stomach than to withhold information from her after everything they had been through and how close they seemed to be. Maybe it was all just a lie, Kim considered. Suddenly, she could not get to Edo fast enough and she began walking at a much more brisk pace.

Shego noted the petite samurai picked up speed, so she did, too. This only made Kim go faster. Shego sped up once more and before long, they were practically running side by side. It almost appeared like they were in a footrace.

“What the hell are you doing, hime?” Shego growled. 

Kim did not answer. Shego noticed the extremely tense expression on her kitsune’s face. Oh, she had gone and upset the girl. For a moment, she thought she could not care and then her brain reminded her that she cared about everything that went on with Kim by making her feel guilty for vexing the slender redhead. Damn it, she was not too sure if she liked caring about someone if it would make her feel bad for being herself.

Kim thought in a slightly similar fashion. She had no problem with caring about someone, as she cared about plenty of people. It was caring about Shego in whatever way she did that began bothering her. She disliked someone had such a tight grip on her emotions where she could become so angry just from refusal to openly answer a generic question, especially since Shego liked to tease and taunt, too. She could easily find herself emotionally and physically drained from being around a person with such a power, which was not a pleasing thought. 

“Princess, I—” Shego was about to explain herself, but they hit a rope bridge that did not seem to be able to support their combined weight. It probably did not help that they had ran onto the bridge, stressing it even further, but either way, it bridge snapped in two.

“Kuso (damn it; shit)!” both females hollered as they plummeted. 

They both looked down to see how far they had to go and they could see that it was quite the fall. They both went into their sleeves and pulled out grappling hooks. They let the hooks fly and snagged the end of the bridge. They almost slammed into the cliff face, but they kicked their legs out in time to avoid smashing into harshly. They breathed a sigh of relief until Shego’s wire popped and she continued to fall. 

“Fuck it all,” Shego cursed and sucked her teeth. Of course the line would break when she dangled a hundred yards from the ground!

“Shego, I’m coming!” Kim called as she dived after her cohort. 

The samurai went down headfirst and pressed her arms to her sides, hoping to gain some momentum to catch Shego. The pair came close to each other, putting their hands out to grab for each other. They touched fingertips and then Kim suddenly came to a shocking halt because she did not have any more length on her line. Shego, of course, continued to follow the path that gravity intended. Olive eyes went wide with terror. 

“Shego!” Kim screamed in pure horror.

“Don’t worry!” Shego called to the redhead, not sure if she was heard or not as the space between them widened. 

Kim watched in disbelief as Shego disappeared out of sight thanks to thick brush below. Her eyes went impossibly wide as she stared into the void. Shego was gone. Shego was gone. No!

“Shego!” Kim hollered at the top of her lungs in despair. 

She automatically decided to go down there to look for her companion. She hoped to the heavens Shego was all right, even though she did not see how that was possible. What if the last time they saw each other was when she was so angry with Shego? She just could not stand that thought and commanded the universe itself to protect Shego until she got to the older woman. She grabbed onto the cliff face and released her line. She started climbing down the cliff, determined to get her cohort back in some form.

-8-8-8-8- 

Shego swore for about the tenth time as she broke through some treetops and she grabbed a branch to avoid slamming into the ground. She jerked because of the sudden halt, but breathed a sigh because she had stopped. And then she heard the branch creak. She groaned, knowing what the sound meant. The branch splintered and broke off quickly and she was falling again. At least she did not have so far to go.

“This is ridiculous,” she grumbled.

She hit the ground quickly and landed like a graceful cat. She was glad to be back on the ground. She looked down just in case the dirt wanted to be annoying and cave in too since falling was suddenly in fashion. The ground seemed solid enough, though. She looked around once she was sure the floor would not betray her.

She had landed in a regular, but slightly dense forest as far as she could tell. She decided to just wait where she was for a little while. She did not know if Kim climbed down for her or not because the treetops cut off her view of the cliffs. She just knew if Kim had fallen, she would climb down for the teen, so she gathered Kim climbed down since they seemed to worry about the same amount for each other. Besides, Kim had dived after her, so it only made sense Kim would climb down after her.

“Crazy girl,” Shego smiled, thinking about Kim trying to catch her. 

Shego picked leaves and twigs that were entrapped out of her hair from her fall. While doing that, her instincts started to act up. She turned around, hands up in her fighting stance. She was surprised to see that there was no one there. She craned an eyebrow because she really felt like there was some danger around. She just could not see it. And then her feet were yanked out from underneath her.

“Kuso!” Shego grunted as her back smashed into the ground. 

Shego looked up, trying to see what just happened. There was a tree root wrapping around her ankle and it pulled her in the direction where it grew. Shego was not about to be drawn into a thick, lush bush by some pushy, possibly demonic tree root. She sat up and ignited one hand. She cut through the tree root and tried to climb to her feet. She did not even have time to figure out if she wanted to stand and fight or run off until she had better idea of what that root was and what it wanted from her.

A bunch of other roots shot out from the bushes and grabbed for her, wrapping around her wrists and ankles with amazing speed, especially for plant life. She growled in aggravation and cut through those irksome weeds as quickly as she could. She almost fell over because they had been pulling and she had been resisting the force. She then tried to make a run for it since she was free, but more roots came at her.

The wooden tentacles gathered Shego up before she would get away. She sucked her teeth in anger with the persistent plant and was ready to set the whole damned forest ablaze. The roots coiled tightly around her body in a matter of seconds. She did not even get a chance to mutter a swear word at the sheer absurdity to what was happening. Shego was completely covered and then sucked into the bushes before she could ever flex a muscle to try to escape. It would seem an overgrown blade of grass defeated the ultimate warrior. What a crappy day.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim made it down the cliff and ran into the trees, hoping to run right into Shego. No such luck, though. She did not see any sign of Shego, which she thought was odd, and then she noticed the drag marks on the ground. She hoped the marks had nothing to do with Shego, but she followed them anyway. After all, they were in an area that had broken sticks and fallen leaves about it. There was a chance they were related to where Shego went.

She ran off into the dense bushes without even thinking. The only thing on her mind was that she wanted Shego back and she wanted her back safely as soon as possible, if not sooner than that. If Shego was so much as scratched by someone, Kim would kick that person’s ass thoroughly. Because of her impulsiveness, she was not paying too much to the landscape. 

The redhead hit a slope and slid down it. She did not fall over, but it took her a few seconds to regain control over herself. She made sure to grip her zori fronts because she did not want to pop the strap to her sandals. She hit the bottom of the hill and then heard applauds, which confused her. She looked up to see a quartet of children, who she guessed had just witnessed her unintentional show.

“Wow,” the group muttered.

“Um… hi,” Kim said awkwardly and she waved to the clique. “You guys haven’t seen a cranky woman with pale, green skin around here, have you?”

“No,” they all answered, shaking their heads as well.

Kim cursed under her breath. She looked around and tried to think of what might have happened to Shego. The drag marks had led to the hill that she had just slid down, but she did not see any evidence that the drag marks continued where she now stood. It did not help that the children said they had not seen Shego and she was a hard one to miss. While she was getting more worried by the second, thinking something terrible might have happened to the pale woman, she refused to lose her determination to find her companion.

“Have you seen anything weird around here?” Kim asked the kids. 

They nodded enthusiastically, smiling at her, seeming to want to talk about the bizarre happenings they had witnessed. There was no shortage of weird things going on around their home and the children eagerly spilled out everything they knew.

“The forest is possessed and it comes to life!” the first child reported. 

“The demon plants sometimes even walk around!” the second chimed in.

“And they eat people and animals!” the third added.

The other kids all nodded to that last one. Apparently, the local flora was a haphazard to anything that breathed and moved. Kim looked around. It looked like a normal forest, but she knew things were not always what they seemed.

“Sounds like a dangerous place to live,” Kim commented, mostly believing the children. She had seen some very strange things in her short life. Killer lilies would not even crack her top-ten list of strange phenomena.

“You mean you believe us?” the first little boy asked with wide eyes.

Kim nodded to affirm that and the children blinked, rather shocked by that. They were not used to being believed it would seem, especially by someone who was not from around their village. Kim was inclined to believe just about anything thanks to all of the things that she had experienced in her life. The recent events in her life truly helped open her mind, giving her the mindset that anything was very possibly for anyone or anything.

“So, do you know where these moving plants come from?” the samurai asked the children.

“They come from the forest,” the second child, a little girl, answered.

Kim laughed a bit. She supposed she should have seen that coming. She was dealing with very small children, after all. She guessed she would have to go inspect things around the forest. She scanned the area again while the children came closer to her. They eyed the weapons on her hip and one of the little boys was about to make a bold move. He went to touch Kim’s mismatched long sword.

“Hey!” Kim barked at the boy, causing him to jump back because of the sound of her voice.

“Are you a samurai?” the little girl asked curiously.

“Yeah, so don’t touch my swords. Don’t go around touching a samurai’s sword, especially without permission, or your might get hurt by a not-so-nice samurai,” Kim informed them.

There were samurais out there who would do much more than yell at them for daring to touch their weapons. There was the fact that if they met another samurai and made an attempt to touch that warrior’s weapons, there could be all sorts of problems, especially with samurai having permission to slay people below their status for disrespecting them. Kim just did not like that the boy had gone right for her unused sword and she was not sure what might have happened if he touched it.

The group nodded collectively. They seemed to know that Kim was right, but were probably just excited. Kim figured she could get some information from the children’s parents.

“Hey, guys, I’ll show you my swords if you could take me to your village,” Kim offered.

The children cheered. They had no problem with that and charged off toward their homes. Kim was right behind them. Before they parted ways, Kim showed them her swords and they were pretty happy with that.

The olive-eyed samurai found that the adults in the small village that the children lived in were not as open as the kids were about the killer plants wandering around the forest. They seemed to want to save face or not come off as ignorant country folk. Kim tried to assure them she did not think that they were insane or anything like that. She informed them that, in fact, she could help them with any problem that they had, especially if it was those plants.

“I’ve dealt with all kinds of weird stuff. If there’s something going on here, I’d really like to help and set things right,” Kim told them.

The villagers eventually decided to trust Kim, especially if she could get rid of the demon plants, as they called them. The plants were dangerous because they stole people away, eating them as far as the villagers knew because days after people went missing, they would find body parts of the missing person. They would love nothing more than to be rid of such a deadly force, especially since their village was practically surrounded by the forest. They did not want to lose any more people, especially children.

“Don’t worry, people, I’ll take care of everything,” Kim declared and she was about to walk off, but stopped. “Um… could someone tell me what direction I should be heading in?” she requested with a sheepish grin on her face.

All of the villagers pointed her in the direction she needed to go and she smiled while thanking them. They all moped as she walked away. They were not too certain if one skinny little samurai would able to do much, but they would give her the benefit of doubt, especially since she had not called them fools outright when they told her about what was happening. She was the first outsider to not laugh in their faces about their troubles.

Kim began running, thinking the killer plants might have possibly grabbed Shego. It did not take her too long to find out what the villagers had been going on about the plants snatching people. Three traveling bushes growled at her like angry cats and then attacked her. She pulled her long sword in an instant.

“Guess I’m going to be a gardener for the moment,” she commented. She needed things as quickly as she could because she desperately desired to have Shego at her side again. She hoped Shego was well and good.

-8-8-8-8-

By the time Shego came to a halt, the tree roots covered her face and she could be heard screaming in a muffled tone. She basically yelled every swear word she knew and it was a long list. She clawed at the roots as best she could, but they tightened around her as she scratched at them, cutting off her air and binding her hands closer to her body to stop her from moving them. It would seem one of them was going to have to give sooner or later. Like hell she was losing to some plant, Shego declared mentally, and continued on despite the root acting as a constrictor.

“Oh, what have you gotten this time, my good little root?” a strange voice inquired.

Shego could tell that the person was close, but she could not place the accent, which she thought was odd. She was pretty well traveled and could tell where people were from based on their accents much of the time, but not with the person nearby. She could barely understand what the person near by said.

“Hey, whoever you are, get me the hell out of here!” Shego commanded in a muffled tone. Little did she know, but the mysterious person understood her just as well as she understood the person. She had the excuse of having a plant over her mouth, though.

“Sounds like you got an angry one this time,” the voice commented.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to beat your ass if this thing is yours,” the pale woman vowed.

“Hold on to that one for a little while longer and then we’ll start the experiments,” the voice ordered the tree roots.

Experiments? Okay, Shego did not like the sound of that. It was time for her to get out of the predicament in her own special way. She just hoped she was not in a house of anything or there might be all sorts of problems. She also hoped there was no one around because she flared her hands. She growled as she powered up as much as she could, a low plasma charge buzzed from her whole body and came out full-force in her hands. The tree roots burst into flames. 

It sounded like the plant cried out in pain and it began to release Shego. She burst away on her own, easily breaking through the weakening wood. Unaware she had been being held a couple of feet off the ground, she dropped to the floor, landing on one knee. She quickly scanned the room to get an idea of where she was and whose ass she needed to kick. All she saw was plants, all kinds of plants around the place.

“What do you think you’re doing!” a voice cried, causing her head to snap to locate the owner of the voice.

Shego turned to the owner of the voice and was not sure what to make of the man she saw. He was short, about the size of a small child, and wore a weird helmet. There was something beyond that, though. He just looked odd. It was the best way she could put it.

“Gaikokujin (foreigner)?” she muttered with a scrunched up face. She guessed he was not from Japan, anyway. He looked just as weird as his accent sounded.

“Everyone, get her!” he ordered in a very overly dramatic fashion, pointing at her.

Shego wondered what he meant by “everyone” since she did not see any other people and then all sorts of plants attacked her. She quickly sprang into action, clawing at anything that got near her. _I’m actually being attacked by flowers? What the hell?_ Added to the weirdness, they happened to be flowers with sharp teeth. What the hell was going on and who the hell thought that an iris was improved when given fangs?

While she tried to fight off the plants, the little fellow who seemed to be controlling the mutants, grabbed a few darts. He drew one at her, which she saw coming. She slapped the dart out of the air, but quickly had to turn her attention back to the murderous foliage and went back to clawing them. She had to change her focus again as another dart came her way. That went on until a dart scratched her.

“Shimatta,” she swore under her breath and she felt a little dizzy, but she shook it off.

The little man laughed loudly and obnoxiously, knowing he had gotten her with that dart. “You can try to fight the toxins, but it won’t work. I don’t know who or what you are, but it’ll be interesting to study you and figure out how you light yourself on fire like that,” he declared.

Shego did not pay him any mind and continued to fight. She was slowed down, but she still tore and burned plants. They seemed to just keep coming, but she took down basically anything that came near her.

The short male was baffled by her ability to stand up after he had managed to poison her. He threw more darts. Shego cut through most of the plants attacking her, but she had three darts stuck in her back now. She was hardly able to stand up by the time she sliced through the last plant.

The little man laughed again, rather arrogantly, as he stared at her. He was upset she had gone through all of his plants, but it was clear she had nothing left in her. She was breathing hard and bleeding from various parts of her body. She could barely stand up from what he could see.

“Do you think that you could just stop me, the great Dementor!” the fellow declared and he laughed.

“Shego!” they heard Kim call.

“I’m in here, Princess!” Shego replied in loud voice, shocking the short man with her. He did not think she was strong enough to even raise her voice.

“What’s going on?” the small man, Dementor, wondered aloud.

His question was answered in a manner that he did not like much. Kim kicked the door down to his hideout, which was not very well hidden in her opinion because it was a large house in the middle of the forest with trees coming out of the roof. Had Dementor been aware that Kim would storm in as she had, he probably would not have been right by the door. The door, along with some of the wall that it was attached to, came down, hitting Dementor. Kim stepped in with a powerful stride that needed to accompany such an entrance; she stood on the door.

“Ow! Do you mind?” Dementor hollered at the top of his lungs.

“Hmm?” Kim made a curious noise and then noticed she was on him. “Oh, sorry,” she apologized as she stepped off of the door.

“Don’t apologize to him, you crazy kitsune! Just pick him up, so I can kick his ass,” Shego ordered and Kim turned her attention to the pale woman.

“What happened to you?” Kim asked because of the horrid state her companion was in. Between her tattered clothing, the bloodstains on her clothing, the almost tired look in her emerald eyes, and slumped stance, Kim guessed she had shown up at a good time.

“I got attacked by a deadly side dish,” Shego remarked, trying to smirk and make light of the situation. “Look out!” she warned the teen.

Dementor climbed to his feet and was about to set upon the samurai. Kim turned around and kicked out at the small fellow. Kim was used to fighting people taller than she was, so when she kicked, she was used to it being a sidekick. With Dementor’s height, she hit him in the head. He went flying to the side and was stopped by a wall, which he dented on impact. He groaned and did not move, but he still seemed to be conscious. The helmet probably saved his life with the force that she hit him with. Kim went to go inspect him.

“Gaijin (foreigner)?” Kim’s forehead wrinkled when she looked at him. Studying him, she looked rather perplexed by his presence.

“That’s what I said,” Shego commented as she limped over to Kim.

“Are you okay?” Kim asked, hiding the concern she felt by sounding relatively normal.

The green-skinned warrior nodded, but then she collapsed onto Kim. The redhead caught her companion, who was not unconscious, but dizzy as hell. She was sweating rather hard and it did not take a genius to know she was poisoned.

“What did you do to her?” Kim demanded, her voice booming. She grabbed Dementor by the folds of his red uwagi with one hand while making sure to keep a good hold on her companion with the other.

“Nothing!” he lied vehemently.

“Tell me the truth now!” she commanded him with more force in her voice than she knew she could use. She slammed his back into the wall for him to understand that she was not playing around.

Dementor flinched, but he did not say anything, even though he could practically see the fires of Hell in those olive eyes. It was the look in her eyes that made him reluctant to talk. Perhaps if she knew he had introduced toxins into her friend, she would become even more ferocious and destroy him, he considered. Kim snarled and was prepared to force him to talk, but Shego stepped in first. She decked Dementor with as much strength as she could muster and knocked him cold.

“Why’d you do that?” Kim asked.

“His accent’s pissing me off,” Shego replied, slurring her words a bit. “Besides, people cooperate so much better when they’re unconscious.”

Squinting, Kim shook her head. “But, he did something to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I haven’t met a poison that could screw me over yet. Let’s get out of here,” Shego said as if the whole thing was no big deal.

Kim was not too sure how to argue that, but she did anyway. “Shego, you were poisoned.”

“Yeah, but I’ll be fine. Let’s go,” Shego stated. Trying to motion to the door with her head, but she could hardly move.

Kim did not let up, though, and Shego did not back down. Apparently, they were both stubborn when they got a notion in their heads, but Shego was just a little bit more so and won out. She smirked arrogantly over it.

“You’ve just learned a great lesson, Kim-hime. Never argue with me,” the raven-haired female commented and Kim just rolled her eyes.

They looked around to make sure the plants were taken care of. From what they could see, Shego had done a good job taking them apart. Shego started for the door, but noticed Kim reach for the foreign munchkin. Shego wondered what Kim was doing.

“Princess?” Shego said.

“I’m going to take him back to this village that he’s been terrorizing and let them watch him until the proper authorities come for him. He can also tell them how to stop any of the plants that might still be out there,” Kim explained.

Shego sighed; she was trapped with a goody-goody to the max. She did not say anything as Kim picked up the little guy and they started toward the village. The journey was slow thanks to Shego, who dragged her feet.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Kim asked.

Shego waved her off. “Yeah, just need to rest up a bit.” It was nice to know Kim cared enough to fuss over her, though, especially considering how they left things before they were separated.

When they arrived at the village, Kim tied Dementor up extra-tight to a tree and went into her sleeve. She pulled out a slip of paper and writing tool. She quickly jotted down a note and rolled it up. She took out her small whistle and tossed the bound note into the air. A bird zipped through the air, caught the message, and continued flying. 

“So, an official should come and take this guy off of your hands in a couple of days or so. Make sure he tells you everything you need to know before that because officials sometime don’t like to do more than the pick up work. I’ll alert trustworthy people about the plant life in the woods and they’ll come take care of that,” Kim said to the villagers.

“Thank you so much,” the people said to her, everyone bowing in appreciation for her courageous efforts.

Kim waved it off as nothing, especially since Shego had done the real work in her opinion, but the people would not hear of it. They offered Kim and Shego shelter for the day, not to mention medical care for Shego. Kim accepted when they proposed they would help Shego. The pale woman tried to protest, but she was weak from the poison and could not muster up the strength to do so. Kim smiled in triumph while giving Shego a look that said she always won.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Shego were alone in a hut that was given to them for the night by the grateful villagers. Shego was lying on a tatami mat (straw floor mat) with her head resting in Kim’s lap. The redhead caressed Shego’s head and it was very soothing, especially since Shego still felt some of the effects of the toxins, but not much. She had vomited a lot earlier and Kim had been right there, holding her hair for her.

Kim was there with her through stomach cramps and a cold sweat as her body tried to flush out the poison. She was a silent comfort, never once bringing up their fight earlier. Kim just wanted her to feel better. Shego sighed, out of the blue it seemed because it was an almost defeated sound.

“So… I do have a family,” Shego started. “I have four brothers, one ahead and three behind me. My parents recently died…” She continued on giving a general history of herself. Kim smiled fondly and just listened to her cohort go on.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim and Shego learn a lot more about each other, like why Shego is green and why Kim carries a sword she doesn’t use. More importantly is the fun in a hot spring.


	22. Hot and Steamy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.
> 
> Warning: sexy times between two ladies ahead.

22: Hot and Steamy

Kim and Shego were back on the road. They had recently left a village that had been being terrorized a crazy foreigner, who called himself Dementor. Somehow, he managed to create some killer plant life and had been using those to kidnap the villagers. The villagers knew he killed the people after having them stolen away by his plants because they came across body parts quite often. 

Kim had sent word via falcon to some authorities nearby to come and pick Dementor up, but until the authorities showed up, the villagers would keep an eye on him or possibly take care of him themselves, especially since he informed them that his plants did not have long life-spans and the ones that were in the forest would be dead soon without his aid. He had dropped that information after some “influencing” from Shego and a detailed description of what she could do with one little flaming claw.

Aside from doing a good deed in the village, Kim and Shego had spent the night in the village in their own little, private hut. The villagers also provided the ladies with new clothing, which Shego sorely needed. The duo had not gotten to do anything except for clean up and talk because Shego was a little sick and cut up. Dementor had poisoned her while fighting with his killer plants. The cuts came from being bitten by the plants with sharp teeth.

Shego was better now, but last night, she had not even argued much with being forced to lie down all night. Maybe it was because she had an excuse to rest her head in Kim’s lap and Kim had helped feed her, too, which had been very pleasant. In fact, Shego hoped for a repeat of that one. Shego had known for a long time that she liked to be spoiled and having Kim do it was even better.

Throughout the night, they had gotten to know each other a little better. Shego started it off by talking about her family. She revealed quite a bit of information about herself, like the fact that she healed very quickly. This kept Kim from worrying about her being poisoned. The redhead accepted that explanation easily because she had seen plenty of strange things in her life and she was fairly open to weird explanations.

Shego even went as far as sharing that she was very much a daddy’s girl, which was something she never even admitted out loud until last night. Her relationship with her mother had always been… special. There was no other way for her to put it and she refused to sugarcoat it, even with her mother dead. She also explained she had what she considered a healthy distain for her brothers, which was something that Kim could understand.

Kim had jumped into the conversation at that point and they bonded over having irksome brothers. They both laughed throughout most of that conversation. They eventually came up with an unspoken rule of exchange. If one of them offered up a piece of history, the other then had to offer up something. They also asked for “secrets,” which were just things they never told anyone else, mostly because they were embarrassed to have done those things or something along those lines. It seemed to work so far, which they considered was because neither asked anything too deep or brought up anything too deep. They were still just a bit defensive, not wanting the other to get a negative picture because they wanted to continue being liked by the other.

“So, what’s your most embarrassing childhood memory?” Shego asked Kim. She was willing to bet it would be hilarious considering how wild she now knew Kim was when she was little. She liked the background information she had about Kim, willing to bet they would have been great friends if they had known each other in childhood.

“Hmm…” Kim thought on it for a few seconds. “There are a lot of those,” she confessed with a little laugh.

An amused smile settled on Shego’s face and emerald eyes sparkled. “Why am I not surprised?” From what she could tell, Kim was great kid when people were looking, but as soon as someone turned their back, she turned into a little demon child.

“Scared the hell out of my parents once when I was really little by climbing onto the back of my grandfather’s horse when he wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t supposed to be up there and I knew it, but when my parents came out, I was going to brag to them about how I could ride. But, when they came out, my mother sort of screamed and panicked me. I slid off the horse and landed right in a puddle of mud, face first. As if my humiliation wasn’t complete, I had to get scolded by my parents and my grandparents while getting cleaned off,” Kim explained.

“Doesn’t sound too embarrassing,” the pale woman pointed out.

“Like I said, I have a lot of them. This happened in front of a lot of guests, though. The little Possible heir falling off a horse and covered in mud was definitely not my finest moment.”

“That could have been the most embarrassing, though, even with all the people. Everyone has fallen off a horse at least once.”

“You’re just trying to make me feel better. I’m just going from the top of the list because that’s one of my first memories,” the younger warrior replied. She did a lot of silly things when no one was looking, especially when she was a child.

Shego’s eyes went wide for a moment. “Your first memory is falling off a horse? How young were you when you climbed up there?”

“About three, I guess. I couldn’t have been too old since my grandfather died before I turned five.”

“You were a crazy kid.”

“Yeah, well, what about you?”

“Hmm… What did I do embarrassing as a kid? I tried to tackle my older brother after he beat me in a sparring match and I landed in the koi (1) pond. To add injury to the insult, the pond was deep and I couldn’t swim, but instead of staying calm, I started flinging my arms and pushed myself further out into the water. The irksome bastard saved me,” Shego replied while shaking her head. She had forgotten about that, but yeah, her big brother had saved her life when she was little.

It was embarrassing just thinking about it and seeing the memories flash through her mind was even worse. She had actually needed saving and the one person to come to her aid was the person she wanted nothing more than to beat bloody that day. But, then again, she wanted to beat him bloody almost every day. She had learned how to swim right after that incident to make sure that it never happened again. She never wanted his help again, but she supposed it was inevitable. Her father once told her that even the strongest warriors needed others around for support and assistance.

“Why do you hate him then if he saved you?” Kim inquired.

Shego sighed. “It’s not that I hate him. I just can’t stand him. You know how that is.”

Kim nodded because she did not hate her brothers, but she really could not stand them. Maybe one day, they would grow up and mature and be friends, but for now, she hardly wanted to look at them. Maybe Shego’s brother never matured and that was why they were not friends now.

“I guess that’s embarrassing,” Kim commented. “But, it could have been worse,” she added.

A pale forehead wrinkled. “How so?” What could be worse than needing to be saved by her ox of a big brother? Not to mention the fact that he brought it up all the time when she started talking back to him. He always wanted to know “is that any way to talk to the person who saved your life?” If he wanted thanks, he needed to just say so. A big brother was supposed to save his little sister if she was in trouble anyway, which was why he never said such idiotic things when their parents were around.

“Your little brother could have saved you,” Kim answered.

Shego frowned and thought about how true that was. She had already been mortified that her big brother had saved her, but had it been her little brother, she would have just jumped right back in that water. There was no way she would have been able to live with herself being saved by her little brothers. But, she felt like she never would have been in that situation to begin with if it had been one of her little brothers from the start.

“My little brothers would’ve never beaten me in a match for me to try to tackle them, though,” Shego riposted.

“That’s probably true,” Kim concurred with a shrug.

Emerald eyes glared a bit. “What do you mean ‘probably true’?”

Giving Shego a smile, Kim laughed a little. “I’m just saying since it didn’t happen, we’ll never know.”

“Because it’s never happened is why we do know,” Shego argued.

“Who’s to say that maybe one of your little brothers wouldn’t get lucky or something and then beat you?” Kim countered.

“I’m to say. It’s never happened before and it never will. Besides, I’d never try to hurt one of my little brothers maliciously,” Shego admitted without thinking. Oh, if that ever got out, her reputation would have been dead in the dirt, rotting in a shallow grace, she figured.

“Ah, so you’re nicer than you pretend be, huh?” the olive-eyed samurai asked with a teasing smile on her face.

“Shut up,” Shego said while playfully pushing the smaller female ever so slightly. Kim laughed a little bit as her swords rattled on her hip.

They walked along for a while in silence. They had finally gotten back to the point where their silences were not awkward. It was pleasant and almost promoted little actions between them, like Shego took the chance to slip her arm around Kim’s shoulders and pull the redhead close to her.

Kim wrapped her arms around Shego’s waist to the point where she looked almost like a drunk relying on Shego for support in walking. Her appearance did not matter to either of them. As long as she was close to her companion, everything was fine.

“So, Kim-hime, want to tell me why you don’t use that sword you carry?” Shego asked. They had had enough run-ins with people for Shego to notice Kim had a forsaken weapon on her belt. It seemed strange to her for someone to carry around extra weight for no reason at all.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I did,” Kim answered in a low voice, which sort of let the green-skinned warrior know she did not want to talk about. She really was not in the mood to have Shego eye her as if she was crazy.

“How about you try me before telling me what I’d believe,” Shego suggested, getting just a tad upset that information was being withheld from her. She could have sworn they were being totally open and honest with each other.

“Trust me, you won’t,” Kim muttered. No one ever believed the story. They just looked at her like she was nuts and she was not looking forward to getting that look from Shego, so she would rather avoid it all together. She did not consider she was insulting the taller woman by keeping it a secret.

Shego scowled. “You don’t know that.”

Kim was not interested in arguing the matter and brought up a question she hoped would divert attention from her unused blade. “How come you’re green?” she inquired with just a little bite in her tone.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Shego answered, frown deepening. This was more as the truth than a taunt, but she still felt like an ass.

Something inside of Shego tightened, too. So, it was more than her feeling like an ass, but old insecurities rearing their ugly heads. She wondered if when Kim looked at her, she saw a _green_ person instead of just seeing a person. The idea that might be the case caused a dull pain to start spreading through her being.

Kim nodded, taking it as a jab at her because she knew her companion could be spiteful if given the chance or a reason. The conversation ended there and they just continued walking in silence. They did remain cuddled up to each other despite the way that things went. It seemed like the desire to be close to each other did not waver between them, even if they had both vexed each other slightly. They thought on those questions and how they did not get or give any real answers.

They both considered they did not truly have a right to be upset since they had both withheld information, but the reasoning did not ease the pain they both felt about things being kept from them. They knew from the way they felt about being close to each other that they wanted things to work out, which meant they would have to take chances. They would have to believe in each other, but it was just so hard. Life had already taught them to hold certain things in, but they knew that was no way to maintain what they had. Still, they did not speak.

What was to become of their bond when they refused to speak, even though they knew it was for the best? They were even certain they would not react the way others had, but they still remained silent. Was saving face and upholding old habits more important to them? If that was the case, how could they continue on? Their connection would surely slip away like sand on a beach and they did not want that. Those thought and questions plagued them through their long silence. 

-8-8-8-8-

The night had set in and the duo had run out of road. They were in a dense forest, but that did not bother them. They could not care less about being in some thick woods overrun with wild animals and who-knew-what-else. The main thing bothering them was that they were still thinking on those earlier questions and they knew the other was aware of that because a new conversation had not started yet. There were also the other thoughts still on their minds related to the unanswered questions.

“Is that hot spring?” Kim wondered out loud as she stared ahead of them.

“Is it?” Shego said when she caught sight of the steam rising from a barely visible pool. Could it be true? Did the gods love her enough to put a hot spring in the middle of nowhere? She hoped so because she still itched to see her little kitsune naked. She bet it would be a great distraction from the ideas buzzing around her head like vengeful hornets.

“I think it is. You want to take a dip?” Kim asked with a smile, letting her companion know what she wanted to do. 

Maybe relaxing in the hot spring for a little while would take the tension away following them around like a shadow, if only for a while. Maybe the soothing, healing water would even help them explain to each other why they chose not to answer those questions and they would not have to wonder if their defensive natures were going to slay their bond. Maybe it would help them actually connect even more.

Shego laughed a bit; it came out more like a scoff, but it was laugh. Did she want to take a dip? Um, hell, yes, of course she wanted to take a dip! She had desired to see what Kim had underneath that kimono and hakama ever since she figured out she was attracted to the redhead. And then there were the other factors of needing to relax with the hope that it would get those other less pleasant thoughts out of her head.

“Yeah, I guess,” Shego answered nonchalantly, as if it did not matter one way or the other to her. She even shrugged. It was against her nature to seem eager about anything that was not a battle.

“Great, let’s go!” Kim tugged Shego toward what they hoped was a hot spring. Apparently, Kim could be eager enough for both of them.

They strolled over and found out it was a hot spring. It was not very big, but big enough for the two of them. They finally let go of each other; they had spent the whole day walking as if they were joined at the hip. They both made a sweep of the area three times to make sure no one was around. No one was. It was just them, the night sky, and whatever nocturnal animals daring enough to approach humans, especially these humans.

The pair started getting out of their clothes. Shego craned a confused eyebrow as Kim went to undress behind a bush. She just had to ask.

“Princess, what the hell are you doing?” Shego inquired, her face scrunched up in confusion.

“Don’t look,” Kim replied. 

“What do you mean ‘don’t look’? We’re both about to be in the same water. I’m going to see anyway,” she pointed out.

“Just don’t look,” Kim requested.

Shego sighed. “Fine. I don’t see what the big deal is, though,” she muttered. She was the freak with the green skin, after all. If anything, she figured she should have been the one hiding behind a bush and pleading with Kim not to look. Maybe she could somehow fool Kim into not seeing that her whole body was a pasty green color. 

Shego wondered if Kim cared so much about looks as she peeled her clothing away. The redhead seemed very concerned about her own body, but Shego would not say the samurai seemed concerned with Shego’s body. She guessed she would just have to wait for the reaction when Kim finally got to see what she looked like underneath it all. She just hoped the reaction was not too shocked or disgusted.

The raven-haired warrior slowly exhaled as she finished taking off her clothes. She folded everything, not too precisely, but enough to where it was clear she was not always a slob. She folded the clothes because the kimono was new and they were her colors. 

She entered the water, sighing as the hotness rushed up against her, and settled down. She sighed again as she sat with her back against the natural rock wall surrounding the spring. She glanced over at her clothes and her sword. She then looked over her shoulder, trying to spot Kim.

“Where is she?” she murmured with a frown. She hoped nothing happened again, but she would not be surprised if it did. After all, the last time that they were supposed to share a bath, Kim was kidnapped. Things just seemed to happen to them at the worse times. But, the she heard the redhead moving around, so Kim was obviously still there.

“Don’t look,” Kim said as she started to come out of the shrubs.

“I’m not looking,” Shego sighed. “I’ll even close my eyes,” she promised.

“Okay.”

Shego actually shut her eyes. She could hear her companion making her way closer to the spring. Kim put her things down and eased into the water. She glanced at the pale woman and then looked down at the water.

“You know, I’m not going to sit here with my eyes closed the whole time,” Shego pointed out.

“I know,” the younger female replied, sounding a bit disappointed. It was like she hoped her companion would sit there the whole time with her eyes closed. 

“I’m going to open them now,” Shego warned the samurai.

“Go ahead,” Kim sighed. 

Shego opened her eyes and glanced to her right side, which was where Kim was. It took all of her willpower to keep her mouth from dropping open. Yeah, she was definitely attracted to women, more specifically Kim. What in the hell was she so nervous about, Shego wondered. Her body was perfect.

“Princess, why the hell are you acting like you’re deformed or something?” Shego inquired before she could stop herself. Her eyes refused to shut now, refused to blink even, unable to miss even a second of this beautiful creature before her. She had not known what to expect when Kim revealed herself, but she was glad to see perfection. Her little kitsune was perfect.

“Huh?” Kim asked with a wrinkled forehead, as if she did not understand the question. She tried her best not to look at her companion because she did not want to see the negative reaction she was certain Shego would have once she saw the scars that marred her form.

“You keep telling me not to look and everything, but you’re…” the green-skinned woman trailed off because complimenting someone was against her nature and she was not sure what word to use anyway. Nothing would cover what she was looking at right now; even perfect was too shallow a term.

“Damaged. I know,” Kim sighed, thinking she was finishing Shego’s sentence.

“Damaged? Hell, no!” Shego replied with great energy, sloshing the water around them. Yes, Kim sported some battle scars and everything, but hell, her body would look just as lived in if she did not heal so quickly and thoroughly. She put a hand to Kim’s cheek and made the redhead look at her. “You listen to me, you’re not damaged at all and if anybody has said or ever says otherwise, you deck them and tell them that you’re perfect in every freaking way possible. Okay?” She inspected the olive-eyed warrior, wanting to make sure her words sunk in.

Kim nodded and she believed Shego. She could see the sincerity in those emerald eyes. She smiled a little bit because of the honesty. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders and that it had been replaced by the lightest feeling ever because Shego thought that she was perfect. 

“Every little scar on your body is a testament to how amazing you are. They made you perfect,” Shego said.

Kim blushed a little, feeling her cheeks on fire and it had nothing to do with the hot water of the spring. She decided to take a brave look at Shego’s body since the pale woman had seen her. She swallowed hard when she saw Shego and olive eyes went wide. 

Kim could not believe Shego called her perfect when Shego looked absolutely gorgeous. She was left gawking at the older woman, which sort of made Shego uncomfortable because she did not know the meaning behind the staring. Shego shifted a little, hoping the movement would get Kim to stop, but no such luck.

“Kim-hime,” Shego said.

“Huh?” Kim mumbled as if she was in a trance.

“You do know my face is up here, right?” the raven-haired beauty teased. It was the only thing she felt was safe to do at the moment.

“Oh. Sorry,” Kim apologized as she turned her attention to Shego’s face. “You probably think I’m some kind of pervert now, huh?” she realized in a disappointed tone, dropping her gaze to the water.

“No. It’s only natural that you stare since I’m damn sexy,” Shego remarked. 

“You are,” the redhead agreed before she realized what she was saying. She blushed again because of that confession. “Well, you’re very beautiful and everything,” she added in a timid tone. “I hope you don’t think I’m a pervert.”

Shego smiled slightly. She was happier than she looked, but she did not want to show it. It would seem she had worried for nothing. Kim thought she was sexy and very beautiful. That was good to know. She felt better about herself now than she had in years, about her body anyway. They sat there, quietly for a moment.

Kim still blushed. She did not see why she felt so shy around Shego while being nude. She guessed it mattered because she wanted Shego to be interested in her and she wanted the pale woman to always like her. And as that thought went through her mind, she made a decision.

“The sword is called The Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. I don’t use it because it’s cursed. A hundred years ago, my ancestor Possible Mim used the sword in a battle to protect her home against an invading army from a neighboring lord. She single-handedly killed a hundred men with the blade and saved her home, along with many people. One would think that’d be it, but those men were angry that they had been killed by her and they turned into demons. They returned to her home and attempted to destroy her and everything again. She faced them in battle again with the same sword and she killed them once more. Their souls entered the sword and are trapped there. It’s been passed down in my family line since her death,” Kim stated the history of her unused weapon.

“Why pass down a cursed sword instead of just hanging it up and guarding it to make sure no one gets it?” Shego asked. 

“It emits an evil aura that grows steadily if the sword doesn’t have an aura to counter it and it will eventually possess someone who is just close by. So, the sword is given to a person in my family who is said to possess a will strong enough to keep the evil in check. My grandmother passed the sword to me when I became an adult, so my soul sort of does battle with those souls to keep the evil aura from going out of control. It’s said that as long as I do good and honorable things, my soul wins the battle and the sword doesn’t possess me. If I do wicked things, the demons in the blade will devour my soul and possess my body and seek revenge all over again, looking to destroy my family’s ancestral home and our lands. So, my soul keeps the evil in check,” Kim explained with a shrug, like it was no big deal. She was used to the sword, not used to sharing the story, though. 

Shego nodded and Kim waited to hear how unbelievable her story sounded. How it was just superstitious nonsense and all that lot, which was how people tended to react to the story. That was why she did not bother to tell it. Hell, she had been skeptical about it when her grandmother first told it to her, but when she got the sword in her possession, she could feel there were demon souls in the blade. She was told she did not have to use it and it probably would be best if she did not. She just had to keep it close to make sure those demons did not get a chance to use any humans for sinister schemes. The task seemed simple enough.

“So, you think that story’s crazy, don’t you?” Kim asked. 

Shrugging, Shego scoffed. “Not really. I’ve heard stranger things. Besides, kitsune, you have to remember you’re talking to someone with green skin and semi-claws who can make fire with her hands. You couldn’t shock me if you really turned out to be a fox spirit.” 

“I’m not a fox spirit,” the redhead insisted with a frown.

A playful smile danced on Shego’s face. “Sure you are; you’re my little kitsune. Haven’t we been through this?”

Kim smiled a little, too, and she blushed a little bit for a reason that was beyond her. She felt pretty good getting the story of the sword out of the way. It was nice to know she could tell Shego anything and not have to worry about being looked at as if she was out of her mind or if something was wrong with her or even being accused of outright lying as some high-ranking officials had the nerve to do once. 

Shego was glad to see Kim smile. It made her feel good inside and she really wished that Kim had just told her that from the start. She would have believed it because she did not think that Kim had any reason to lie about the weapon. Well, she supposed that since Kim should have just told her that in the beginning, she should have just returned the favor. It probably was not as big a deal as she was making it out to be.

“I wasn’t always green. You’re probably too young to remember, but thirteen years ago, something fell out of the sky,” Shego started. 

Kim interrupted. “I’m not that young!”

Shego gave her a leveled look. “So, you remember it?”

“Vaguely. I mean… a little?” Kim more remembered hearing about it than actually seeing it. She was only a toddler when it happened, but it had been the talk of the town for years after. 

Shego smiled at her. “At least you know what I’m talking about. The thing that fell out of the sky happened to land in my backyard. It plowed right into me and my brothers while we were doing I-don’t-even-remember. Probably just playing around, but that came to a quick and sudden end. We got thrown around the garden pretty good, but weren’t too hurt up.”

A sigh of relief escaped Kim. “I’m glad no one was hurt.”

Shego shrugged, not sure if “no one was hurt” to be honest. “I came out of it the worst with green skin and the sharp nails. My younger brother came out purple. My big brother came out more annoying, which we didn’t think was possible. My baby brothers also managed to get more annoying, even though that’s their intent and they were only three at the time, so you couldn’t expect much from them anyway. After that day, my parents sort of looked at me different, my younger brother too. I guess because we looked different while the others still at least looked the same. My father tried to act like it didn’t matter that I was green, but he didn’t do the best job at hiding it. I guess he figured since I was young, I wouldn’t notice, but I did. For a long time, I hated this color because it took my father from me. Plus, the stupid rock made him pay more attention to my idiot big brother and he used to rub it in my face. He always talked about how he was spending the day with our father and no one else was invited, it was always just him, because he was stronger. I bet I could kick his ass right now, though.” Shego growled while making an angry fist.

She had lost a lot of people thanks to her appearance. Her parents were just the first in a long line, but they did hurt the most. Maybe that was why she held on so tightly when she finally got someone in her life. After that rock hit, all she could think about was how she just wanted to get away from her bastard of an older brother, too. He had always been a self-righteous, arrogant bastard, but once he got his super-strength and their father started taking an even bigger interest in his life, he got exponentially worse. He made sure to rub that one in, too, and seemed to think because he was their father’s favorite, he could control everyone’s life when their father died. Screw him.

“Well, green or not, I think you’re wonderful,” Kim commented. 

Shego smiled a bit and warmth spread through her, which had nothing to do with the water. One sentence should not lift her spirits like that one did. It was great to have someone who tried to cheer her up or make her feel good about herself. She had not had that for a long time. She leaned down and kissed Kim softly on the mouth in appreciation. 

The kiss started out innocent enough, more like a thanks than anything else, but as the seconds ticked by, it grew hotter and more licentious. And then a green hand joined the act, deciding to the opportunity to explore the slender body that it had been dying to touch while it had the chance. Kim yelped slightly as she felt warm fingertips on her ribs, but her lips refused to leave Shego’s mouth.

Kim debated with herself if she wanted to pull away or not. It felt strange, but in a very good way. Actually, in a deliciously great way to be more accurate. She decided to just let it go and see where things went. She wanted to know where things could go and how she might help them get thing there. 

The redhead decided to mimic Shego after a few seconds since she believed Shego knew more about what they should do since Shego was already doing things. So, Kim began caressing Shego’s side. It started out a little awkward because she was unsure of herself, but Shego shifted into the touch, which silently encouraged Kim. 

All Shego needed was for Kim to respond and all gears in her head shifted to “go.” She moved to where she was in front of Kim and ended the kiss. The samurai whined a bit because of the break, but Shego quickly changed that noise by attacking Kim’s neck. The younger warrior cried out in pleasure thanks to the new attention.

“Ah,” Kim moaned loudly. She could hardly believe that was her voice. 

Shego’s hands continued to roam Kim’s torso, caressing every inch of soft flesh they could. Eventually, they came to a curiosity; well, more like a pair of curiosities. The tender mounds fit in the palms of her hands and she started kneading the two marvels, trying to solicit a response. Kim cried out again, a little louder than before. 

As pleasure flooded Kim’s system, the olive-eyed samurai’s mind got cloudy. She did know what to make of all of these sensations and the way her body hummed. Licking her lips, she tried to figure out everything she felt, but found it virtually impossible. It just like her mind and body were in some other plane of existence where delight buzzed around her. 

Kim could hardly think straight, but she was aware enough to move her hands on Shego’s body. She mimicked what Shego was doing to her on the pale woman herself. Shego was caught off guard by the sensation and she stopped everything that she was doing for a moment to hiss and exhale deeply.

“Did I—?” Kim did not get the chance to ask if she did something wrong. 

“Keep doing that,” Shego told Kim in an almost needy voice.

“You, too,” Kim whispered, forcing those two words out. 

Shego did not respond verbally, but she went back to massaging Kim with fervor. She also went back to lapping at Kim’s neck, as if she was dying of thirst and it was the only thing that would keep her alive. As she suckled at Kim’s throat, she moved her thumb to touch the center of the right soft mound in her grip. She circled the peak with her thumb and Kim copied that on her body and Shego shuddered; it would seem the action got to Shego more than it did to Kim.

For a moment, Shego wondered how much of her Kim would copy. First, she caressed Kim’s breast with her fingertips and Kim did the same to her. She allowed her thumb to flick the plump pebble under it and Kim did the same. Shego moaned against Kim’s throat and dared to think her nipples were more sensitive than Kim’s. She wondered if Kim noticed.

The pale woman decided to move on, so Kim could not mimic her again and mess up what she wanted to do by making her quiver. She moved her mouth down to where her hands were and turned to the left wonder since her hand still occupied the right mound and keeping the treasure company. She wrapped her lips around Kim’s left breast and applied pressure to the gem.

Intense pleasure shot through Kim before she could even comprehend what it was. She nearly sank into the water as her legs gave out, but she managed to hold herself up. It took all of her self-control to not scream to the sky, sharing her delight with the world.

“Waga Kamiyo! (My god!)” Kim sighed. 

Shego smiled to herself and felt a charge up her spine. She wanted to make Kim cry out more, maybe even scream. So, she took the plump gem in between her lips and suckled just a little harder while her hand massaged Kim’s right breast. She was certain nothing in the world tasted as good as Kim’s skin and it made her throb for more.

Kim exhaled until the point that there was no more air in her lungs to expel. She had not expected any of this to feel so good. She hoped Shego did not stop. When Shego switched sides, Kim’s lip started to tremble as her nerves felt alive. She bit into her lip when she noticed it was trembling and it kept her from crying out. She shivered as the sensation coursing through her entire being, feeling like she might jump out of her own skin.

Shego happened to glance up and noticed Kim’s expression. Shego halted her actions and Kim looked down at her as if she was the worst human being on the planet. 

“Make as much noise as you want. No one’s around,” Shego pointed out with a devilish smirk. She wanted to hear everything and then take it into herself. She wanted everything with Kim and just take in, only to give it back.

Kim understood the deeper meaning to Shego’s words and wanted nothing more than to give Shego what she wanted, even if she did not request it aloud. But, Kim was not used to being loud and she had been taught not to be loud, no matter what. And then she shouted almost deafeningly as Shego suddenly returned to what she had been doing before, but managed to apply even more delicious pressure.

Shego smirked smiled against Kim’s flesh. She enjoyed hearing that noise and she wanted to hear more. Her tongue flicked and her teeth scrapped and Kim had to hold onto her or risk drowning.

“Cling to me,” Shego whispered. “Always cling to me.” She did not even know why she said it, but she meant it and Kim listened. It only made Shego burn brighter for her. 

While Shego’s mouth continued to delight in suckling Kim, her free hand traveled downward. She felt Kim trembling against her and panting like she actually was drowning. She was almost painfully aware it came from anticipation and desire. Kim wanted her. Kim was ready for her. The very thought made her whimper. 

Shego lightly caressed Kim’s abdomen, feeling the muscles twitch slightly from the attention. She reached around and came to another point of interest. She slid her hand up and down the swell of Kim’s ass and the redhead moaned loudly, obviously enjoying the exploration as much as her partner. 

Kim was not about to let Shego have all the fun, though. Shego was still within her reach, after all. It took her a moment, but soon she was about to think clearly enough to try to return the favor. She moved her hands back to Shego’s breasts, showing the pale warrior she had not escaped yet. She stroked Shego’s flesh again, causing Shego to start moaning too.

“Shimatta, Kim-hime,” Shego muttered before going right back to what she was doing. 

Kim smiled to herself and reveled in the wonderful feel of Shego’s skin. Shego was hot to the touch, but she burned for more. Her fingers glided across heaving breasts and danced across perk nipples.

As Shego shuddered again from Kim’s advances, Shego considered she would have to do more to remain in charge and in control of what was happening. She moved her hand back to the front of Kim and went in for the prize. She barely touched what she was sought out and Kim’s legs gave out from sensation. Kim slid down into the water more than before. Shego merely followed to continue on with her duties.

Kim practically hollered in sheer bliss, unaware that anything could possibly feel so unbelievably wonderful as Shego gently rubbed a single, warm finger against her. Shego was extra-cautious with her strokes because of her talons, but she was already contemplating cut off all the nails on one hand just for this pleasure. Kim could have one hand and she would die happy knowing she pleased this amazing samurai.

“You feel like heaven,” Shego muttered before kissing Kim lips and adding a little more pressure. 

Kim gasped into Shego’s mouth and her hips bucked without thought, chasing Shego’s finger. She wrapped her arms around Shego as she felt her pleasure building. She grasped and dug her nails into Shego’s back as that fantastic pressure released in a wave of euphoria. She panted and shook as the feeling continued on for a few seconds. She held onto Shego as if the woman would save her life throughout the whole event.

“How did you do that?” Kim managed to ask in a very low voice once she was able to talk.

“It’s all about knowing where to touch,” Shego answered as if it was common knowledge. Of course, from hanging out in the seedier parts of Edo, she felt like it might be common knowledge. 

Shego really wanted more time to find out where to touch and how much pressure to apply to those areas to really send her companion to the edge. She desired to make Kim shudder like Kim had made her do and she hoped Kim noted those reactions to know to do that again at a later date. Of course, Kim had done just that.

“What now?” Kim asked, her voice low and a little raw. 

“I’ve got an idea,” Shego replied with another smirk. She had heard other things in her travels. “We’ll have to get out of the water for a little while, though.”

Kim did not object because she wanted to see what Shego had in mind, but there was one little problem. “I don’t know if I can stand up, yet.”

“You don’t need to.”

Shego gathered Kim in her arms and carried her out of the water. Kim shivered a little as they exited the steaming hot water, but that was expected. Shego laid Kim down on the grass and situated herself over the redhead. Kim could guess what Shego was going to do. It was going to be a repeat like the time in the cabin, except without the clothing in the way. Hopefully, it would be even better, they both silently wished.

Shego positioned herself with her thigh in between Kim’s legs. Kim moved a little to make sure her thigh was also in between Shego’s legs. They squirmed a little in anticipation and to make sure they got the position right. 

Shego rolled her hips without warning, pressing into Kim, and they both hissed in pleasure. This was way better with no clothes. Their bodies moved, unable to stop, unable to get enough of each other. 

Shego leaned down and kissed Kim’s mouth as they moved. With every passing moment, their movements got more fervent and desperate. As the pressure started to build, Shego reached down between them, looking to help matters along. Kim twitched underneath her and brought her hands around Shego, which let the pale woman know she had helped. She kept going as Kim hit her peak and not too long after Shego crested.

They remained as they were situated and caught their breath. While they did that, they placed small pecks on each other’s lips every so often. The kissing led to petting, which led to deeper caressing. They could guess where that was going to go. 

“We might be here all night,” Shego remarked.

“I think it’s fine by me,” Kim replied and her companion just smiled.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: an unwanted interruption.

-8-8-8-8- 

Koi: carp (type of fish).


	23. Mental Midgets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

23: Mental Midgets 

“I don’t want to move,” Shego groaned, lying on the ground with Kim curled up against her.

“We can’t stay here all night,” Kim replied, eyes on the stars.

“Says you.”

“We’ll get sick in the night air.”

Shego snorted. “I’ll keep you warm.” She pressed Kim closer to her.

Kim pretty much purred and the sound made Shego smile. Shego’s hands drifted across Kim’s abdomen and under the swell of her breasts. Kim squirmed away.

“No, no, no. Don’t start that again. We need to get up. Next time we do anything like this needs to be in a proper bed,” Kim said.

“Or we could do it right here again.” Shego kissed behind Kim’s ear. They were cute little ears, she realized.

Kim squirmed away even more. Shego laughed. They had spent a lot of time on the ground, and in the hot spring, and then on the ground again. It was probably best to get up and get moving.

“I really enjoyed the hot spring,” Shego remarked as Kim got up to get dressed. They had not spent much time lounging in the spring, like they initially planned. They had gotten in the water a couple of times, preferring to do other activities to unwind.

Shego wished they could have done that all night, but that was a good way for Kim to get sick considering how she would have been getting into the hot water and then out of it again and again. So, she moved to get dressed as well. She watched Kim put on her clothes first, smiling at the sight.

Kim was no longer shy about her body and did not go behind a shrub to get dressed. When she noticed Shego watching her, she even smiled back, instead of requesting that Shego close her eyes like before. Kim knew it would have been silly for her to do and she was very, very comfortable with her body now.

“You want me to close my eyes?” Shego teased.

“Just get dressed,” Kim replied.

Shego laughed and moved. She was not surprised she was done first and just watched the olive-eyed warrior straighten out her clothing. Kim was so neat to the point of adorable.

As soon as Kim was done, Shego grabbed her and embraced her. She held the smaller warrior for no reason, but Kim was not going to complain. They both thoroughly enjoyed the close contact. Shego leaned down and kissed the samurai for no reason, too, which Kim was also not going to complain about. If anything, she hoped more unnecessary actions like this occurred.

“You’re so cute,” Shego said.

Scoffing, Kim rolled her eyes. “You’re just going to keep trying me, huh?”

“Yeah, Kim-hime.” Shego kissed Kim’s cheek and Kim smiled.

The duo still was not sure what to consider themselves. The concept of a couple did not even come to mind because they both had very distinct pictures of what a couple was. Their pictures were quite similar to each other, too, as they both imagined a couple to be a man and woman who were married and in love with each other. They were not even sure how they felt about each other either. They did not have a word to put to it anyway, but they really did not care much about that anymore. They did not need a label.

“So, we’re going to get moving, kitsune?” Shego asked in a whisper. It was like she really did not want to move, but it was necessary.

“I guess so. Maybe we’ll find some place to stay,” Kim answered.

“Hopefully,” the pale woman concurred. She did not have any desire to sleep on the ground, even though she would just continue walking before lying in the dirt. Well, she reminded herself that if she kept walking, she would not be able to curl up with her little fox and cuddling up with the redhead trumped everything as far as she was concerned. So, they needed a bed as quickly as possible.

They started off in the direction they had been heading before they stopped at the hot spring. Shego made sure she kept her arm around Kim and the redhead leaned against her as they traveled through the forest. They did not make it far before two huge men came out of nowhere, blocking their path. The men jumped out from behind some thick bushes and trees. The shrubbery had been very good cover because the ladies hardly noticed the two men before they showed themselves.

“Something stupid’s about to happen,” Kim muttered with a sigh.

“Gee, ya think?” Shego remarked, rolling her eyes. She would have thrown her hands up, but her arm was way too happy around Kim to give that up, even for a second.

The two men wore black masks over their faces and they had the air of being bandits about them, but something was wrong in the ladies opinions and they figured out quickly. The men while gigantic were not armed. 

“I hope these two idiots are asking for directions or this might get a little dicey for them,” Shego commented. Of course, if the men were armed, then weapons would have only hurt them more in the end because that would only irk the ladies further. 

“You girls look nice. How about you hang out with me and my friend, Steel Toe?” the man on the left suggested while pointing to his partner.

“Steel Toe?” Kim echoed with an arched eyebrow. There was someone traveling the planet with the name “Steel Toe”? Who was handing out nicknames when he came along or was it all just a cruel joke?

“Why me?” Shego sighed, looking to the sky. Really, why did everything have to be annoying just when she was enjoying herself? She knew running into a man with the epithet Steel Toe and his friend in the middle of the night in a forest was just going to be the very definition of irksome.

“Did he really say his friend’s name was Steel Toe?” Kim asked because she needed to be sure. “I mean, maybe my ears aren’t working.” 

Shego motioned down to the guy’s foot for Kim to see that things got even more ridiculous. Kim looked down to see that the guy on the right was wearing a slipper made of metal along with a lone zori. So, people were actually that stupid, huh?

“And who are you? Empty Head?” Shego guessed, speaking to the unnamed fellow.

“The name’s Pain King,” he answered with a growl. At least his head was not so empty that he missed when he was being insulted, the pale woman thought, but then again, that was not saying much considering how direct the insult was.

“Well, excuse me, Oja-sama (king),” Shego said, waving her hands in mock fear. She would have bowed to further her mockery of him, but she did not even feel like putting forth the effort for that. She just wanted the men to get out of the way, so she and Kim could find some place to cuddle and sleep in peace. 

“Look, if you don’t want to get hurt, just give us everything you have on you,” Pain King ordered the pair in a forceful tone.

“Well, we damn sure couldn’t give you the things we don’t have on us, now could we?” Shego quipped and she seemed to confuse them for a moment with that question. The two would-be robbers were silent for a couple of seconds. 

“And get undressed since you want to be a smart aleck,” Steel Toe added in to respond to her inquiry.

“Yeah, that’s not likely to happen,” Kim commented dryly while rolling her eyes. 

“Not with them around anyway,” Shego remarked. “Look, guys, we’ll give you a sporting chance. If you turn around and run away right now, I won’t follow you and make you walk funny for the rest of your life.”

The two men laughed as if Shego just told them a joke. Shego glanced at Kim and they both smirked at each other before turning their attention back to the two idiots. They could not see the guys’ expressions due to the masks, but they were willing to bet the looks were stupid. 

“I don’t think they’re going to take your offer,” Kim said to Shego.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t want them to at this point,” the pale woman replied with a smile. 

“I didn’t think you did,” Kim replied with a shrug.

“You know me too well, Princess.” 

The men took steps toward them; apparently, they were going to force the items they wanted from the ladies. Steel Toe went to Kim while Pain King approached Shego. The hulking men cracked their knuckles and chuckled. Kim and Shego could not help looking amused. Those guys did not know what they had just willingly walked into. 

Pain King had the nerve to grab a hold of Shego by the fold of her kimono. He shook her a little bit, seeming to find it funny because he laughed while doing it. Shego failed to see the humor yet, but when she raked her claw-like nails across his forearm and broke the skin quite deeply, she started to see the comedy. He hissed in pain and backed away, making sure to let go of the demon woman while he was at it. 

“Yeah, you certainly are the king of pain,” Shego stated, as she bet those gashes hurt like hell.

Steel Toe had grabbed Kim at about the same time his partner had taken hold of Shego. He had his hand resting on Kim’s shoulder and he began caressing her limb. She grabbed his wrist, rather offended by his actions, and flung him over her shoulder with surprising ease. He went flying into a tree.

“You are a strong little thing, kitsune,” Shego commented when she saw the move. 

“Lots of heavy training,” Kim replied with a shrug.

Shego smirked. “Are you sure you’re not a fox spirit?” 

“Are you sure you’re not a demon?” Kim countered.

“A demon would’ve cut the arm completely off, not just scratch him,” Shego pointed out.

Kim shrugged because her companion had a point. They then had to turn their attention away from each other as their opponents came back at them, for more embarrassment and agony as the two ladies looked at it. They were happy to oblige. Hopefully, they would teach these morons that every pair of females they saw alone at night in the woods were not defenseless. In fact, women alone at night in the woods probably were more dangerous than anything the guys could run into considering the fact that the females were brazen enough to be out in the dark in some thick woods. Obviously, the guys did not think in such a manner.

Shego went at Pain King with some solid hand strike moves. She did not even bother to ignite her hands, feeling he was not worthy of that honor. He tried to get a hand on her, looking to hold her. She was not about to allow that to happen and made sure to move around while nailing him with hit after hit.

Kim did pretty much the same thing with Steel Toe. She had to avoid his metallic slipper, which he tried to kick her with. She was much too quick for him, though. There was also the fact that he was slow because of his size and the extra weight on his foot. She moved out of the way as he tried to grab her and she kicked him across the face since he bent down some. 

Pain King and Steel Toe fell into each other after taking a solid licking from Shego and Kim. The ladies stood opposite them, waiting for them to make some more moves. The men pushed off of each other and went back at their opponents, growling in anger as they charged the women warriors.

Shego ducked Pain King as he came close to her and tried to yank her into a bear hug. She brought herself back up when he was over her and grabbed him by the waist. She used his momentum to fling him over her and into a tree. He grunted as he impacted the plant.

Kim continued to go at Steel Toe with some rapid kick moves. She looked at it as showing him how to do a proper kick, but he did not seem to be taking to the tutorial. He seemed to think that just because he had that metal slipper that all he needed to do was land a shot and that would be it. Little did he know, but she was not going to let him land any blow. She just came in with a steady line of torso high kicks until he fell back with aching ribs and forearms, which were injured from trying to block her strikes.

“This isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be,” Shego commented, shaking her head. It was not fun to beat up on people who could not at least hit back. It was like bullying, even though the bandits were the ones that started it. 

“Maybe they’ll run away,” Kim replied to lift her companion’s spirits. She understood how Shego felt. They were warriors, after all. They did not enjoy kicking around those weaker than they were. So, with luck, those halfwits would run off and they could continue on their way.

“I doubt it. These guys don’t mark me as the smart type,” Shego stated.

“What makes you say that?”

“Mostly the fact that they’re walking around with the names Pain King and Steel Toe. They might as well tattoo the word ‘baka’ (fool; stupid person) across their foreheads while they’re at it.”

Kim shrugged. She could not argue with that logic. It helped the argument that the two men got back up and came at them again. It would seem they would have to really hurt the “gentlemen” to get their point across. 

The two bandits went at their respective opponents again, much to the ladies’ dismay. Shego and Kim both decided they were not even up to bothering with the guys anymore. They attacked the fellows very seriously and did not let up, even if they noticed the guys wobbling. They just continued on wailing on the fellows until they fell down and could not get back up.

“Well, that was pointless,” Kim muttered, brushing dust off of her kimono for lack of a better thing to do, especially since their “opponents” were on the ground. She could not even bring herself to consider them real opponents. They were like training posts. 

“Very,” Shego concurred and then she turned her attention to the fallen would-be thieves. “You two stay there and think about what you’ve done and if I see you again, I’m going to make sure it’s the last time I see you,” she threatened them.

“Shego,” her redheaded companion gasped, as if she was aghast to hear such words from her lover. 

“What?” Shego inquired, acting as if she did not know what she just threatened the men with.

Olive eyes glared. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.” 

“Ah, what are you now, my mother?” Shego countered with teasing look on her face.

“No, come on. Let’s just go,” Kim suggested.

Shego nodded and decided to not even waste her breath on the collapsed idiots. She stepped over to Kim and took charge of the redhead’s shoulder, as usual. Kim leaned into her and they walked off into the night, hoping to find some place to bed down for the night. 

Pain King and Steel Toe just lay on the ground, in serious agony. They knew they should get up and get revenge on those girls, but they just could not do so at the moment. They could not even move at the moment. They refused to be made fools of by little girls, though. They silently vowed to get the two females back.

“What are you two doing lying down on the job like this? I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone,” a short man commented as he approached the beaten pair.

The newcomer was a very short brunette fellow. He was dressed in blue yukata with a darker blue haori (1). He had on a pair of geta, which made him look just a little taller than he actually was, but he was still short. He puffed on a pipe and frowning slightly since his employees were laid out in a very shameful manner.

“It’s nothing, Jackie-sama,” Pain King answered as he and his partner tried to sit up. 

“It looks like something. What happened to you two?” the short man, Jackie, inquired.

“It was nothing,” Steel Toe repeated, waving the whole matter off.

“No, no, no, tell me what happened. We can’t have you two getting beaten up. It makes the whole deal we got going kind of bad. After all, how are you ever going to pay me back all the money you lost for me in those fights if you don’t work right?” Jackie pointed out. 

“It was… well, it was these two broads,” Pain King reluctantly admitted, eyes on the ground. 

“Two broads? You mean to tell me two broads did this to you?” Jackie scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You think I’m an idiot?”

“No! Of course not!” Pain King replied.

“What were they, monster women or something?” Jackie inquired, folding his arms over his chest.

“Yeah,” Steel Toe answered. “I mean, they definitely weren’t no regular broads,” he added. 

“Right, they were deadly. I mean, one of them was carrying three swords,” Pain King said. He had noticed the swords on Kim’s hip when they first encountered the ladies, but did not think anything of it. It seemed like a good excuse to use now, though.

“So what? She’s still just a broad and you two still work for me. Now, we could make some money with those broads and they might’ve been carrying money, so let’s go get them,” Jackie ordered.

Pain King and Steel Toe cringed at the thought of facing those two harpies again. It seemed like it was going to be a must, though. After all, Jackie was the boss. Maybe they could think of a way out of it, even though thinking was not their strong point.

“They were running pretty fast when they left,” Steel Toe commented.

“So? We can still catch them. So, get up and show me which way they went,” Jackie commanded the pair. 

Pain King and Steel Toe let out very small groans. They pointed in the direction the ladies went and then slowly climbed to their feet when they saw that Jackie was waiting for them to get up. They all walked off in the direction of Kim and Shego. The large pair silently prayed they did not locate the girls.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Shego had not been lucky enough to find an unoccupied home to camp in for the night, but they had come across a small cave that could fit both of them. Kim did not mind the space, but Shego was against not having a futon to sleep on. Kim laughed at this.

“You’d think I’d be the one complaining about no bed,” Kim said.

Shego snorted through her nose. “I just figure if we’re going to move and all, then we should make it some place worth going.”

Kim chuckled again. There was nothing that could be done about having a futon, though. Shego complained a little more, which Kim knew was just because Shego liked complaining. Shego really did not mind. She would get to hold Kim all night to keep her warm, so that made up for any lack of bed in her opinion.

Shego preferred not to have to act as a lantern for the whole night, so she built the small fire. She then settled her back against the wall opposite the fire and gathered Kim up in her arms. The couple curled up together, even though they had no plans to sleep. The pull to be close to each other was just too great.

They shared a meal together, which was just a couple of rice balls. They had food from when they were at the village that they saved from that foreigner and his killer plants. They also had canteens with fresh water from the village. 

They did not start any conversations, having no need to. They were happy just being close to each other. It was like when they were back at the teahouse. They were totally comfortable with each other, maybe even at peace around each other again. They could not help wondering what the feeling was that the other gave them and even though they could not identify it, they knew they wanted it to stay forever.

Kim glanced up at Shego and was about to say something, but she decided against it. Shego had given her word and was obviously an honorable person. She could not request what she had been about to say to the older woman. She could not ask that Shego throw away her honor for her. It just would not be right, she told herself.

Shego noticed Kim look at her, but she did not know Kim was going to ask something of her. She moved her hand that was supporting Kim’s back up to the redhead’s neck to caress the area. She propped her leg up to support Kim’s back.

While Shego rubbed Kim’s neck, the redhead occupied her time with touching Shego inside her kimono. Shego was glad Kim was comfortable with doing such things now. She was also glad that if she got the urge to do the same thing, Kim would not pull away. They both sighed contently. 

And then, they both tensed. They could tell that people were approaching the cavern. They looked at each other, as if silently asking could those guys actually be dumb enough to follow them. They nodded; yeah, those guys were probably dumb enough to follow them. _Why us_ , they both wondered. 

“I guess people don’t see the importance in thinking anymore,” Shego commented.

“Thinking, what’s that?” Kim snorted. 

“Okay, let’s just knock them out and be done with them,” Shego stated. She wanted everything over fast, so they could get back to cuddling and caressing. It was the highlight of her night and she damn sure was not going to let two brain-dead giant monkeys mess that up for her.

Kim did not argue that because she did not want to be bothered by the bandits anymore and she wanted to get back to what they were doing, too. She very much enjoyed being close to Shego, feeling her body heat and caressing her. She wished that they could just stay like that, but, no, first they had to deal with bothersome morons. They exited the cave and decided to wait around for whoever was coming. A few seconds later, they could see Pain King and Steel Toe walking behind a rather short gentleman.

“What’s that with them, a sprite?” Shego remarked. 

“Hey, are those the broads?” Jackie asked his two flunkies as he caught sight of the female duo. 

“Did he just call us broads?” Kim inquired with her lip curled up in disgust.

“I think he did,” Shego confirmed, just as insulted as her companion.

“Yeah, Jackie-sama, those are them,” Pain King affirmed.

“Hey,” Jackie said to the two ladies as he stood before pair. “You two, you did this to my guys?” he demanded. 

“If you want the same, just say so. Ass kicking is our specialty,” Shego commented with a smirk, pointing at herself and her companion.

“I tell you what, you apologize to them and I won’t make you two look worse than these two idiots,” Jackie stated.

Shego had to laugh at that one. She would like to see someone that barely came up to her knees do anything to her. She was with the one person who could keep up with her, so she did not think it was possible for anyone to get the better of her. And it would be the end of the world when she apologized to two morons because they were morons. 

“Is he threatening us?” Kim asked with a slightly furrowed brow because she was not so sure. After all, how was she supposed to take someone who was like two feet tall seriously? She could kick him over the treetops right now.

“I thought it was a joke,” Shego answered.

“Fine, you want to do this the hard way? Get ‘em, boys,” Jackie commanded his two lackeys.

“Get ‘em?” Steel Toe echoed with a tremble in his voice. 

“Yes, get them. Now!” Jackie barked and his two men made moves toward the ladies.

“Same partners?” Kim asked Shego. 

“Why not?” Shego shrugged.

The moss-hued warrior went at Pain King, having to cross in front of Kim to get to him. He tried to swing at her, but he was much too slow. She ducked the punch and went in with pressure points on the mind. She hit a number of points on his body before he even realized it and she stepped away from him. He could not even gasp, just stare in wide-eyed shock, and then he fell over.

“What was the point in that?” Shego wondered. She doubted she had ever dropped someone that easily before. 

“Oh, come on! Get up!” Jackie commanded Pain King.

Shego smirked at him. “Sorry, but, Oja-sama isn’t going to be getting back up for a while now.” 

Jackie snarled and he turned his attention to Steel Toe and Kim. Steel Toe was not doing any better than his fallen partner. He tried hitting Kim with his metallic footwear, but he still was not fast enough. Kim came in and hit him in his knees with a few swift kicks. He cried out in agony and fell over. She stood over him and clocked him with one powerful kick to his face, which knocked him out cold.

“Unbelievable!” Jackie said, throwing his hands up. How in the hell was it possible for two women to just beat his boys like that? “You’re worthless monkeys!” he shouted at the defeated duo. 

“So, you sure you want a piece of this, little man?” Shego inquired in a boastful tone while motioning between herself and her redheaded companion.

“I’m not afraid you,” the small fellow declared. 

“You should be. We haven’t even gotten started yet,” the emerald-eyed warrior commented with a smirk. 

Shego really just hoped the little man would just run away. She and Kim had no desire to beat on someone the size of a child like they had just done the two would-be bandits. At least the bandits were bigger than they were, but even that did not make this much fun in their opinions. If they wanted to get into a fight, they would just battle each other. It would save them the guilt and it would be so much more fulfilling and entertaining. 

“You two are going to regret doing that to my guys,” Jackie stated.

“I doubt it, but feel free to make us try since you’re so daring about everything,” Shego replied.

“How about not making us try. I don’t want to fight you,” Kim informed the small fellow. Her brothers were taller than he was and she was not even comfortable sparring with them because of the height difference; the age difference and skill level also had something to do with it. 

“Too bad. You’re going to and you’re not going to like it. I’m going to destroy both of you and once you’re completely worn out, I’m going to sell you to a brothel,” Jackie proclaimed while putting his pipe away, stashing in it his obi.

“This guy is delusional,” the redhead muttered.

“Not to mention longwinded. Shut up and come at us if you’re such a tough guy,” Shego ordered the guy. She was sick of just standing there sharing air with the moron. She had been nice and relaxed with her princess in her lap and she wanted to get back to that as soon as possible.

Jackie finally took Shego up on her offer, which she was thankful for, even though she did not want to kick the ass of a weakling. She did want to get back to her comfortable evening and if the fastest way to do that was to punt that shrimp, well, she was about to kick him like they were playing kemorai (2) and he was the ball.

He went at both ladies, jumping between them while attacking. They backed away and he went at Kim with some jump kicks. She put her arms up to block and pushed him away when his feet connected with her limbs. He fell back, knowing he landed near Shego. He turned around to attack her.

Shego nearly rolled her eyes as he came at her with some punches. It was not that he did not know what he was doing, no. He seemed to know what to do much better than his goons, but he was still knee high. He could not hurt her as far as she was concerned and she kicked him away from her just because she wanted him to stop embarrassing himself.

Jackie slid across the ground thanks to Shego. He grunted as he came to a halt and coughed up some dirt. Shego put her hands on her hips and sucked her teeth. Kim sighed and folded her arms into her sleeves.

“Just stay down,” Shego practically begged the little man. She should not have to fight with someone she could more than likely step on and never notice it.

“You two think you’re so hot?” he inquired with a growl. 

“Well, yeah, there’s that and the fact that you’re kind of bad,” Kim informed him, hoping it would get him to just give up. They had better things to do with their time, after all.

“That’s what you think,” he said.

“What the hell kind of thing is that to say?” Shego asked. He was obviously bad. There was nothing to think about. 

Jackie climbed to his feet and turned his attention to the two ladies. They did not look too impressed with him, but he believed he was about to change that. He would show them why no one made a fool of him.

“You two don’t know who you’re dealing with,” he warned them, shaking a finger at them. 

“Well, shut up and show us. Damn it, we were doing something before you showed up, you know,” Shego stated, her annoyance now very evident in her voice.

“You asked for it.”

Shego and Kim just stood around as Jackie pulled out a gem that was on a string. He put the jewel around his neck and it began to glow. He chuckled, thinking he was shaking them up already it would seem. They were actually not too impressed; Shego especially since she could make her hands glow and she thought that was a bit more special than making a rock do it. Whatever he was doing, they hoped he could do it quickly, so they could get things over with. 

Jackie then growled as it the necklace started to do whatever it was that it did. They noticed his ears grew along with some hair. His teeth began to grow long and sharp. He transformed right before their eyes and they each craned an eyebrow.

“Well, what do you think?” Jackie inquired, his voice now a growl. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the fight continues with the new and improved Jackie. 

-8-8-8-8-

1: haori: a hip or thigh length coat worn over a kimono

2: Kemorai: it was a ball game, like soccer, and nobles were expected to know how to play.


	24. Jackal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

24: Jackal?

“So… what’s he supposed to be?” Shego inquired as she and Kim gazed upon the transformed Jackie. At least he was taller, the pale woman thought. 

“A tanuki (1)?” Kim guessed, scratching her forehead.

“Maybe a wolf?” Shego said. 

“Well, an inu (dog) of some kind,” the redhead assumed.

“I’m a jackal!” he declared in an angry growl. He could not believe they were just standing there as if he had not done something extraordinary. In his opinion, they needed to be begging him for their lives right now. After all, he had just transformed into a huge jackal god.

“A jackal?” Kim echoed, looking to Shego in case she knew what he was talking about. She had never heard of a jackal before.

“I don’t know. I’m going with a wolf. He’s got brown fur and everything. Shouldn’t you be running then, little kitsune?” Shego teased. 

“Ha, ha, ha,” Kim replied with a deadpan expression.

“What’s wrong with you two? Don’t you get it? I’m a demon,” Jackie declared. He figured putting things into terms they could understand would garner more appropriate responses from them, like falling to their knees and pleading with him not to devour them.

A devilish smirk curled onto Shego’s face. “No, really? Us, too.”

“No, you’re not,” Jackie argued forcefully. 

“No, really, we are. She’s a fox spirit. In fact, she’s a nine-tail fox spirit,” Shego lied. 

“Whoa, what are you talking about ‘nine-tail fox’? You’re going a little too far with this,” Kim informed her companion. It was bad enough she had to put up with being called a fox and the joke about her running from this dog-wolf-thing, but now Shego went too far since a nine-tail fox spirit was a most powerful spirit; the most powerful of any fox (2).

“She’s no nine-tail fox,” Jackie called the green-skinned woman’s bluff.

“No, she is. And I’m just your average, run-of-the-mill pissed off female,” Shego said and then she ignited her hands. “That can do this,” she added in with another smirk. 

Jackie was taken back by her ability. He had never seen anything like that. He then glanced at Kim, considering she might actually be a fox spirit like Shego claimed. He quietly assured himself that it was nothing. He was a demon, too. He could take them down with no problem, he assured himself. He would paint the lush forest floor with their blood and have them begging him to stop, have them screaming they would do anything for him to stop.

“I don’t care what you can do!” Jackie declared and he charged Shego. 

He took a swing at her and Shego found that he was much faster than he had been before he had transformed. He also had some help with the new height that he gained thanks to his change and he landed the blow. Shego grunted, more in surprise than pain, but he was just getting started. She turned her attention to him, scowling deeply.

“Is that all you got?” Shego inquired in a dangerous tone. She was a bit embarrassed that he had hit her, especially since her companion was right there and had witnessed it. She could not let him get away with that.

To answer that question, Jackie charged over to her and engaged her in combat, attacking her with a series of punches. Shego blocked and dodged everything he threw at her, but she was unable to counterattack. She just did not have the extra limbs to do so. She would be damned if she was going to allow him to make her look bad in front of her little kitsune.

“Not so confident now, are you?” Jackie asked in an arrogant tone. 

“I’m always confident,” Shego proclaimed and she forced him away from her as she blocked one of his strikes. She then launched herself at him coming in with a glowing slash attack.

Jackie growled in anger as she cut him across the chest. He snorted as he turned look down at the wound. There were four slash marks that were burned closed marred his torso. Was she really a demon, too? It was the only way to explain how she was able to even touch him in his opinion.

He went at Shego again and punched her. She blocked, but the force was so great behind the hit that it sent her skidding back a few yards, leaving heel marks in the ground. Another few inches and she would have crashed into a rather thick tree. He did not give her a chance to recover and leaped at her, hitting her again. She grunted as she flew back, going through the tree that time and then stopping because of a tree that was yards away.

“Um… should I help?” Kim asked, not enjoying watching someone beat up on her companion of course. She wanted to jump in and teach that jerk a lesson to never touch Shego in a harmful manner again, but she was not sure if Shego wanted that.

“Stay out of it!” Shego snarled as she ducked another punch just in time.

Jackie connected with the tree Shego had impacted and the plant cracked where his knuckles hit. The pale woman moved in with an uppercut slash attack while he was open and she nearly sliced his jaw open, but he countered before she connected. He punched her with his other hand right into the ground.

Shego bounced when she hit the dirt. She coughed in unexpected pain. Since when could someone hurt her, except for Kim anyway? Since when was anyone as powerful as the mutant before her was, anyway? She could not believe that she was being beaten up in front of her lover. 

“I’m not going to take this lying down,” Shego remarked and she flung a plasma sphere at Jackie before she even climbed to her feet.

“What’s this weak attack?” Jackie wondered out loud and he foolishly allowed the blazing orb to impact with his chest. He hissed in sheering pain, not knowing just how hot that plasma was. 

“Never call my attacks weak,” Shego ordered him as she stood up.

“Filthy wench!” he snarled and ran at her.

He seemed faster, but Shego did not care, confident she could take him. She blocked his attack of several punches, knowing she would not have been quick enough to dodge them. She silently noted he seemed to be getting stronger, too, as her forearms throbbed from blocking him. She knew she would be sporting a number of bruises later on. He landed a punch on her cheek and it was like he nearly took her head off with that blow.

Shego’s body twisted from the blow. She landed on the ground on her side and made an impact crater. Blood oozed out of her now busted lip and she knew she was lucky he had not broken her face with that strike. She groaned and tried to force herself back to her feet, but it was rather difficult at the moment. It was like he hit her with a mountain.

“Shego!” Kim cried, knowing Shego was in pain. She tried to run over to the green-skinned warrior to help. 

Shego actually willed herself to suck up the agony, not wanting Kim to get involved. She had her pride, after all. How the hell was she supposed to look Kim in those lovely olive eyes if she let this chump beat her? 

“Stay where you are!” Jackie commanded as he turned to her and shot beams of energy from his eyes at Kim.

The redhead thought fast and pulled her katana halfway out of the scabbard to reflect the beams. It worked quite well, but it left her open to attack. Jackie was on her as soon as she was about to completely remove her sword from the sheath. He batted her away from the scene, knocking her back almost a hundred feet. Kim rolled like a rounded stone and settled on her back when she ran out of momentum. As soon as she was halted, Jackie came out of the air and planted his feet in her abdomen.

“Ah!” Kim cried out in agony. She coughed and a few droplets of blood flew from her mouth.

Jackie then kicked the slender samurai away from him as if she were trash. She coughed again as she halted and a small trail of blood came from her mouth. Jackie smirked and was about to go over to kick her around some more, but someone else got his attention. 

“Hey, mutt! Get the fuck away from her before I’m forced to kill you,” Shego ordered him with a fire blazing in her emerald eyes. There was almost an animalistic snarl tugging at her top lip after seeing what he dared do to her little kitsune. She was going to beat him unconscious just for hurting her lover.

Jackie turned around and gasped. He was not sure what to make of what this sight. Shego was not only still alive, but apparently still able to fight. She stood and she had her hands up, ready for another round. She had an almost murderous look in her eyes, which he thought was a bit amusing. It just did not seem real to him after the strength behind the punch that he had landed, but there she was.

 _Ah well_ , Jackie thought. He was just going to have to get her to stay down now. After all, she was no match for him now and even if she was a demon, he was on the level of a god. Besides, she was the one with the bruised cheek, bloody lip, and he knew her arms were probably worthless now from all of the times she had used them to block his fists.

“What’s the look on your face?” he asked Shego, mocking her and her outrage. 

“Nothing for you to worry about,” she answered, the expression in her eyes not fading in the slightest. No one was going to hurt her kitsune and get away with it. No one. 

Chuckling, he shook his head. “You don’t know when to give up.” 

Shego pointed a threatening finger at him. “No, you don’t know when to give up. I’m not going to let anyone treat my princess that way, dog-breath.”

“You’re in no position to stop me.” 

“That’s what you think,” she stated and her hands flared up brightly to the point where it looked like she held a green bonfire in each hand. She was so vexed she did not even notice she was burning more intensely than she ever had in her life. She just could not stand the fact that he had hurt Kim and she was not going to let that action go unpunished. 

“Bring it on, bitch,” he stated with confidence. How was one injured woman going to do anything to him, after all? She did not even have backup anymore since he had taken care of her partner, who he was now certain was no nine-tail fox from the way she was so easily dealt with.

“You look more like the bitch to me.”

Jackie snorted in anger and Shego decided to attack. She charged him with reckless abandon and he thought it was almost comical. She was so angry the only thing on her mind was cutting him down and the fastest way to do that was going straight at him. 

He threw his hand out and fire shot out. The orange blaze went straight for Shego, but she did not even think to change course. She cut through his fire with one hand and continued on. He was so shocked by her boldness and ability that he could not think for a couple of very precious seconds.

“Yaro (bastard; despicable person)!” Shego practically howled in a fury as her flaming claw strike connected with his abdomen. 

Jackie hollered in sheer agony as she burned him deep, going right through his thick hide into the meat of the matter. He clutched his pained belly and Shego just came in again with the opposite hand, clawing upward. She slashed his chest and then she finished with a strong punch right on his cheek. He stumbled back and that space between them was the only reason her combination halted.

Jackie righted himself just in time to see Shego coming in for more. She had pure hatred blazing in her emerald eyes hotter than the fire coming from her hands. She attacked with another vicious swipe move, attempting to rake him with both blazing hands. He caught her hands, thinking he had her and he was going to just tear her arms out of the sockets, but she acted first.

Shego merely took the chance to kick the demon dog since his hands were occupied. She clipped him right on the muzzle, making his teeth click from the force. He dropped her thanks to the blow and she landed crouched in her fighting stance. She sprang right back at him, punching him in the face.

All Shego wanted to do was go at Jackie until he could not move anymore. Her mind just commanded her to attack and keep on attacking until it was clear he was not going to be able to do anything properly ever again. 

Jackie fell back a little bit, but he did not go down. He countered and punched her back. The hit connected with her face and she felt a rush of pain from it, but she did not even waver. She decked him again and again; _attack, attack, attack_ , her mind told her. She was not going to let him beat her, not in front of Kim and not if it meant he would start on Kim when he was done with her. Jackie managed to grab her fists to stop her, for the moment anyway.

“Why do you even persist?” he asked in a manner that suggested he believed she was stupid for even trying. “I’m going to win eventually,” he pointed out haughtily. He always won eventually, especially when he transformed into the jackal.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing. I was also going to say you shouldn’t hold my hands like that, unless you want to get burned anyway,” Shego remarked. 

Jackie did not seem to realize he held what seconds ago had been pretty much stars, but for some reason they were not particularly hot at the moment. Shego’s fists then ignited with a burst of power that caused him to holler in agony. He backed away, waving his hands to relieve the searing pain of her flames.

“Let’s see you make a fist now, asshole,” Shego commented and she ran at him, sweat running down her face. 

Jackie took a backhanded swing at Shego to keep her from injuring him further. Shego considered she might want to end things as quickly as possible as she running out of steam. Igniting her hands to the level that she was happened to be much more than her body was used to and it took a lot of energy to maintain. She needed to do something before she used so much of energy that she would not even be able to make a spark let alone flare her hands. 

She then turned her attention to the necklace that Jackie wore. He had put the thing on when he turned into the big mutt, so she figured removing it would get him to go back to normal. It was worth a shot anyway. 

Shego went at Jackie again, attacking with her usual slash moves. He growled at her and the fact that she just kept coming at him like a pesky insect. He was going to put an end to her, he promised himself. He was sick of having to deal with her. Not to mention, she was dangerous and he did not want to chance any more injures to her claws. He dodged her assault and then grabbed her by the throat as soon as he had the chance. It hurt his burned hands, but he did not care at the moment. He picked her up by the neck and squeezed tightly.

“I’m going to snap your neck, bitch. And then you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to go and break the redhead’s fucking legs. And then do you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to sell the stupid whore into a brothel,” Jackie informed his captive in a rather angry tone for a guy that thought he had won.

“You know, you talk a big game for a little fuck,” she replied in a forced out voice since it was particularly difficult to speak with his hand crushing her windpipe. She was in a good spot, though. He was close by, within arm’s reach actually. That was just what she needed.

“You talk a lot of shit for a bitch at my mercy,” he retorted. 

“Is that what you think? I’m at your mercy?” Shego actually laughed.

“Yeah,” he answered and he squeezed her neck, reminding her who had who. “I think you are.”

“I think you’re wrong,” she stated and she took just about the fastest swipe move ever at him. 

Jackie gasped as her hand went right through the chain around his amulet. The necklace dropped to the dirt, followed by Shego. Jackie fell back while Shego coughed and rubbed her now sore neck. She watched and hoped that worked. She was not too sure if she was up for round three with that demon.

Jackie hollered as he began to change again. He shrunk back down into his human form, his proper form. He looked down at himself with an expression of sheer disbelief.

“No, no, no. Where’s my amulet?” he asked in a panic, frantically scanning the area for the piece of jewelry. He knew he was no match for that she-beast without his gem. 

“You looking for this?” Shego inquired, holding up the necklace. She smirked.

“Hey, give that back,” he ordered, having the nerve to hold out his hand. 

“Maybe if you ask nicely.” She pretended to think on. “No, on second thought, I’d rather not. I bet you you’ll cry if I do this.” She ignited her hand to the highest level she could. She melted and crushed the gem by making a tight fist. She then dropped it to the ground when she was done. 

Jackie looked down at his magic amulet and what Shego had done to it. It was just a mass of melted goo now. He crawled over to it and grabbed it, burning his injured hands even more so than they already were. He tried it to see if it still worked, only to find out that it was now as worthless as it appeared.

“NO!” Jackie screamed at the top of his lungs.

“If you don’t want me to do the same to you, little man, I suggest you get your ass out of here right now. You don’t want to see what I can do to human flesh, now do you?” she inquired. He shook his head in response to that. She smirked. “Good, so how about you get a move on it and make sure I never see you again.”

Jackie was not sure what he wanted to do. Should he run? No, he could still take her, he told himself. She had to be on her last leg now. After all, their fight had been long, hard, and grueling. She could not have much left inside of her now, he convinced himself. She could not be much of a challenge anymore, so he charged her.

Shego sucked her teeth and kicked the short man with ease. His head snapped to the side and he fell to the ground. He coughed and whizzed out a hard breath. She rolled her eyes, disgusted and annoyed that he persisted even now. Did he just not know when he was beat?

“Get out of here, dipshit. I don’t want to have to kick your head off of your shoulders. I also don’t want to ever see you again, so if I do see again, you’re not going to enjoy it,” Shego growled.

Jackie finally took Shego up on her offer and fled in the direction he came from. He left his two unconscious lackeys lying there in the middle of the forest. Shego did not think anything of Pain King and Steel Toe, not caring if they stayed unconscious for the rest of the night. Obviously, Jackie did not care either. They would just have to find him later on.

Shego turned her attention to Kim. She ran over to the redhead. She carefully gathered Kim in her arms and cradled the smaller female. 

“Kim-hime, you okay?” Shego asked in a low tone. Tears burned her emerald eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

“Yeah, stomach hurts like hell, though,” Kim answered with a weak smile. She did not want her companion to worry about her since she was relatively fine.

Shego laughed a little and put her hand on the samurai’s belly. She gently caressed the area, which kept Kim smiling, even though her stomach was killing her. The green-skinned woman was just happy they were both going to get to walk away from that battle. She was also glad that Kim was not seriously hurt, but the redhead was still injured. 

“You need a doctor,” Shego stated.

“No, I’m fine. I just need a good night’s sleep,” Kim insisted. She was a tough girl. She could take a lot of punishment.

“I’d rather get you to a doctor,” Shego replied as she climbed to her feet. She held her little kitsune, even as she stood. 

“Shego, I’m not some helpless little girl. I can take a harder beating than this. I don’t need a doctor,” the younger female persisted. She was not some weakling or maiden who needed to be coddled. 

Shego did not respond. She was not trying to hear anything that Kim said if it involved her not going to a doctor. She hoped there was a doctor nearby, either one in a town or one on the highway. She was going to have to make it back to the highway, too.

Kim stopped protesting when she saw Shego was not going to pay her any mind. They traveled in silence, lost in thoughts about the fight they survived. Shego had been intense and Kim wondered why she had not been so fiery when they had fought. Yes, Shego had been rather severe when they fought each other, but against Jackie, she seemed almost like another person.

“Shego, are you all right?” Kim asked. She wanted to ask so many questions, but she was not sure if they were all right to ask. Some of them, she did not even want to think about anyway because of the subject that would have to be brought up to discuss them.

“Yeah, I’m totally fine,” Shego lied. She was pretty beat up, but she would press on until she felt safe in putting Kim down.

“You know, I can walk,” Kim reminded her. She did not want to tax Shego’s body any more than necessary, knowing Shego could not be as all right as she pretended. 

Shego snorted. “So?”

“You can put me down and save your strength.”

“I’ve got more strength than you know, so shut up and relax.” The tone was not harsh, so Kim decided not to be offended.

“Stop being so stubborn. Let me walk.”

“No,” Shego said sternly. She was going to take care of her princess. She was going to protect the samurai, even if Kim could do it herself. She just felt like it was necessary for her to guard Kim. Maybe it was because that was about all she could offer now. 

It was not like Kim needed any material possessions that Shego could provide. Who knew what would happen when the journey came to an end anyway, which was something that neither of them even wanted to think about. So, right now, all Shego had was protection, in her own opinion anyway. Kim seemed to know that was on Shego’s mind just from looking in her eyes.

“When it comes to a fight, I can take care of myself,” Kim stated. 

Shego frowned at that because Kim was right. The redhead had beaten her, after all. She was worthless to Kim then, was she not? Her heart lurched in her chest. She was useless to the small creature in her arms. It was not fair, she silently lamented.

“But,” Kim continued on. “Just because I can doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s really sweet that you’re helping.” A small smile settled on her face. “I just don’t want you to wear yourself out. After all, you’re the one that took care of that demon.” 

Shego smiled a bit. Kim was trying to spare her ego, it seemed, but that was not the case. She was telling the truth, but it was actually hurting Kim’s ego a little bit because she was the one who had been dropped so easily and she was the one being carried. The pale warrior looked at her and she could tell that the redhead’s pride stung just a bit.

“Consider this payback for when you carried me out of the rain,” Shego said. 

Kim nodded slightly to that one. She guessed both of their egos had taken some checks around each other. The redhead then smiled out of the blue and snuggled into Shego’s chest. Shego arched an eyebrow and then she smiled warmly, pulling Kim close to her. Maybe it was all right that their pride took some checks around each other. It seemed to have brought them closer and they were not going to complain about that.

“I won’t ever let anything happen to you,” Shego whispered to Kim.

“I appreciate it. You can count on me to do the same,” Kim replied. Shego did not think she was weak. Shego just wanted to help her, like she had wanted to help Shego during the fight, so this whole thing was fine. 

Shego picked up her pace and they eventually hit the highway. She peered as far up the road as she could in the dark and noticed lights. Was that a checkpoint or was it just a town? Maybe it was both.

“That’s a checkpoint, isn’t it?” Kim asked as they came closer to the lights. 

“Yeah, and we all know how you are with inspection points. I’ll take us around,” Shego replied.

The redheaded warrior did not object to that, especially since they would not have been able to get through the checkpoint if Shego was still carrying her anyway. As far as she knew, Shego did not have a passport to go through any inspection posts. So, Shego took a detour back into the woods and searched for the easy way into the town that was just beyond the checkpoint. Her belief was that there was always an easy way and there was.

-8-8-8-8- 

Kim was on her back on a futon in a hotel room. A doctor had already seen her. It had been Shego’s mission to have that done, so as soon as they got into the town, Shego went searching for a medical professional. When she found the doctor, she presented Kim to the man. The girl had been a little shy about having a man examine her. She was used to her mother being her doctor.

The examination had not been too intrusive. The doctor inspected her abdomen, which had some heavy bruising. Nothing was broken or too damaged. Kim then insisted he inspect her companion as well, which Shego did not like much, but she put up with it to ease any worries Kim might have about her wounds. Shego was bruised on both her arms and back. He prescribed some balm to both of them for their injuries and then kicked them the hell out of his house. He had been sleeping before the two crazy females showed up, as it was the middle of the night and all. 

Shego and Kim went to a hotel afterwards. They cleaned up and shared a bath, but they were too tired to do anything. They retired to their room, which was where they were now. Shego sat against the wall next to Kim and sipped a cup of tea.

“How’re you feeling?” Shego asked, brushing a stray strand of red hair from Kim’s face. 

“Could you stop asking me that? I’m fine. I told you, I’m pretty strong myself,” Kim replied with a bright smile. She smiled because she wanted to set Shego had ease. It was nice that her cohort was worried about her, but she did not want to stress Shego out. She was also a bit annoyed that Shego was so worried about her.

Shego just stared at Kim. The redhead was strong, she reminded herself. She supposed her mind was having trouble with that because of the way that she met Kim. Her girl was a fighter, though, she told herself. It was one of the things that attracted her to Kim. It was one of the things that she loved about Kim.

“Love?” Shego muttered to herself as the thought raced through her mind. 

“Huh?” Kim said with a furrowed brow.

“What?” Shego asked. 

“I thought you said something, but I didn’t hear it,” the redhead explained.

Black hair swayed as Shego shook her head. “No, I didn’t say anything.”

“Okay.”

Shego went back to drinking her tea and thinking about the word that went through her mind — love. That could not be what it was, right? She stared down at Kim and shook her head. Nah, it was not love, she told herself. It was something, something powerful, but not love. Someone like her would never fall in love, especially when she doubted she would be able to keep the person. 

Kim glanced over at Shego when she felt those emerald eyes on her. She liked that Shego looked at her, even if she did not know the reason why. It just made her feel warm inside, like most attention from the pale woman did.

“Are you going to lie down or what?” Kim asked Shego in a lighthearted tone. She wanted to curl up next to the older warrior now. 

“Could I finish my tea?” Shego countered in a playfully teasing voice. She would like to get in the bed, too, but she had to stave off her sudden craving for tea. Besides, she found that certain teas interacted with her body in a positive way and assisted her already speedy healing process.

“No,” the redhead replied with an impish twinkle in her eye.

“Shut up,” Shego said in a good-natured tone. 

Kim smiled bit and settled into her pillow. Shego finished her tea and put the cup down. She undressed; Kim was already down to her yukata since she was in the bed. The pale woman put out the lanterns around the room and moved in next to Kim. The redhead abandoned her pillow, in favor of resting against Shego’s shoulder. They exchanged a kiss before going to sleep.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Kim and Shego sat in a restaurant and ate breakfast. They had looked around town and noticed there was a lot of commotion going on. They found out that the town was having a celebration later that day. It seemed that they had a festival to honor the founder of their town, complete with fireworks and, of course, all kinds of games and food.

“You want to stick around for it?” Shego asked her companion.

“Yeah,” Kim replied energetically. She would love nothing more than to hang out at a celebration with Shego at her side. She was willing to bet it would be a blast. 

So, they stayed around and got to join in the celebration that night. The first thing that Shego did was get Kim a mask. She shamelessly presented her princess with the mask, even though she knew it was going to just set the redhead off. It was a fox mask and Kim looked rather offended by the gift.

“Come on, kitsune. Don’t look so down,” Shego said and she leaned down, pecking Kim on the lips. 

“Shego,” Kim said in a whisper and she jumped back because of the shock from the public display.

“Put the mask on for me,” the pale woman requested.

“You get me some candy and I will,” Kim bargained.

Shego chuckled a little and did just that. Kim had not expected the candy, but she did not turn it down. She then put the mask on, backwards. It was good enough for Shego. The pair strolled through the attractions set up for the festival, looking for games and ways to impress each other. They walked by a young man and did not notice him, but he noticed them.

“Wow,” he muttered. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: whose attention did the ladies just grab? And who was he wow-ing at? Could it lead to trouble? Probably.

-8-8-8-8-

1: tanuki: a raccoon-like animal indigenous to Japan. I think it’s called a raccoon dog.

2: Explanation on the nine-tails fox: fox spirits were believed to gain a tail every thousand years of life and with each tail the spirit got more powerful. Nine tails was the most that any fox could achieve and they were a force to be reckoned with.

Bonus gallery picture by [Ameobia](http://ameobia.deviantart.com/): [Honor Bound -sketch-](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/Honour-Bound-SCETCH-133136965). Please, leave any comments for the artist at deviantart.


	25. Masquerade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

25: Masquerade

Kim and Shego went through the attractions of a festival in the town. The festival was in celebration of the founder of the town. They picked up information here and there about the guy who started the town, such as the fact that his descendants were still the keepers of the land. They supposed that was pretty impressive. Okay, not really. Kim just did not want to be rude when people gave them the history of the town and Shego was not paying attention anyway because she did not care about the background of the little spot on a map.

The two ladies were unaware that one of them had just caught the attention of someone else, a young man to be precise, while they wandered the festival. He watched them carefully and then when Shego walked off, going to get something to eat, he moved in on Kim.

“Hey, there,” he greeted the redhead with a smile.

Kim turned, surprised by the young man because she had not been prepared for someone to come up to her. He was an ebony-haired fellow with a look that reminded her almost instantly of Du Will. It was just that he was dressed much fancier than Will probably ever would because she could not recall a time that she saw Will dressed in a kamishimo (1), but then again, she tried her best to only see Will when they had to work together and even then, she did not like the sight of him. Still, it would be utterly pointless of Will to ever show up for a mission in a kamishimo.

“Um… hi,” the redhead replied, trying not to show how awkward she felt, but it was not coming out as well as she hoped. Her face was apprehensive and her body language seemed to be suggesting that she wanted to walk away from him, which she did. Anyone who reminded her of Du Will had to mean trouble in her mind.

“I’m Prince Wally,” he introduced himself, walking with her. He puffed out his chest for some reason, like his title was so impressive.

Well, she supposed that explained his outfit. Wally was dressed in a grey kamishimo. His katiginu (2) and hakama were a light grey. The kimono he had on underneath the kamishimo was a dark blue. He amazingly enough looked neater than any person Kim had ever seen and that said a lot considering how anal Will was about everything, his clothing included.

She also noted that Wally seemed more pompous than Will and he had only said two sentences to her. It was just the way he said those sentences, in a voice that suggested heavy snobbery. The way he stood even seemed to scream elitist, arrogant jackass. The look in his eyes declared he believed the rest of the world was beneath him and she should consider herself lucky that he would even grace her with a few words; lucky would not be the word she used to describe it.

“I’m Kim,” she replied. She made it a point to not give her family name to strangers when out on the road. Her grandmother knew way too many people and she did not want things to get back to that woman or she might never hear the end of it.

“You are a fair creature. I’m shocked to see someone like you around here. There’s usually no one worth my time during festivals,” Wally informed her with his nose in the air.

Kim was not too sure what she wanted to say to that one. Maybe question the fact that he thought a girl wearing a fox mask backwards was worth his time. How odd was that? She could have pointed out the fact that he was a prince and she was a girl with no family crest to speak of on her clothing to even hint at her status beyond the swords on her hip, which was weird too. Perhaps, she could have brought up the fact that he had approached her as soon as Shego walked away, which seemed a bit odd. But, she did not go with any of those.

“Maybe you should try to give people more of a chance,” Kim commented while discretely looking around for her companion. She wanted an excuse to walk away from him because she did not like the vibes he gave off.

“I think I’ll start right now,” he remarked with what he thought was a charming smile, but it was not quite there. It was just he had that air of superiority around him that she did not take too well to and that prevented his smile from being anything but arrogant.

“Kitsune, I thought we agreed you’d stay loyal. You are my kitsune, after all,” Shego remarked smoothly as she came up behind Kim. She had on a travel hat again, covering a good deal of her face. She leaned over Kim’s shoulder, draping her arm on the seemingly irresistible redhead. She smiled, which was barely visible thanks to the hat shadowing her face.

“Yojimbo-san,” Kim said. She was not sure if the pale woman was trying to be act like her male companion to get Wally away from her or if Shego just had a thing for hats.

“Who’s your friend, kitsune?” Shego asked in a low tone. She was looking to have a bit of fun since she saw that fancy dressed jerk trying to talk to her princess.

“I’m Prince Wally. Who are you? Aside from some obvious ronin (masterless samurai),” Wally commented, still sounding very uptight and snobbish. He looked a bit disgusted with the newcomer, his lip curled up and his eyebrows bent in, obviously upset with interruption.

“Oh, oji-sama (prince),” Shego said in a mocking tone. She lightly fingered Kim’s kimono just to start more trouble. She wanted to show she was close to Kim in ways the prince could only dream about, even though she would rather he not even dream about her little fox.

“That doesn’t explain who you are,” Wally stated in an almost demanding tone with a hard look on his face. He was not sure if Shego was the person who had been walking with Kim or not now with that hat on.

“Hmm, I guess I’ll be ‘Yojimbo-san’ for the moment, oji-sama. You seem like you’re mighty friendly with my kitsune. Do you two know each other?” Shego asked, just to keep the conversation going since Wally did not seem to be enjoying things. She was going to make things as uncomfortable as possible for him since he was trying to pick up her girl. He was probably going to try to talk her into compromising her virtue and even though Shego knew Kim would not do such a thing, she thought it was very wrong of Wally to disrespect her companion in such a way.

“We’ve only just met,” Kim informed the raven-haired warrior. 

“Oh, only just met. He seemed so familiar with you, though,” Shego commented. “Or maybe he just wants to be familiar with you,” she corrected herself in a suggestive manner with a new smirk on her face. 

Wally seemed to get the implications behind those words and went rigid at the very idea. He could not believe the filthy ronin would suggest that someone of his status would consider such things. “Why, I’ll have you now I’m the perfect gentleman and would never think to do anything improper,” the prince insisted with his chin held high and it took all of Shego’s self-control not to laugh.

“Who said anything about you doing something improper?” Shego inquired. It was clear from her tone that she was teasing, to Kim it was clear anyway. Wally bristled at that.

“Listen, you,” Wally said in a commanding tone with a threatening look in his eyes, as if he planned on punishing Shego for such implications. He did not get to finish his threat, though.

“I’d rather not. Come on, kitsune. Later, oji-sama,” Shego said while turning Kim around and walking away with her.

“Shego, you didn’t need to make him so uncomfortable,” Kim stated while trying to hide her amusement. She did a poor job of it, thus doing the one thing she was trying not to, namely encouraging Shego’s bad behavior.

“Yeah, I did. He was trying to pick you up as if you were some common courtesan or worse,” Shego remarked. “He’s lucky all I did was make him uncomfortable. He can’t disrespect you like that, especially in front of me.”

“You think?” Kim asked with a slightly wrinkled brow. She had not believed that things were going that way, but as she thought about it, maybe her companion had a point.

“Yeah, I do. So, don’t even worry about him anymore. How do you like my hat?” Shego inquired with a playful smile and she ran her fingers across the brim of her new hat.

Kim laughed a little. “Why do you wear these travel hats?” 

“You don’t like my hat? You don’t have any taste,” Shego teased.

“You don’t have any taste. That hat’s awful.” Kim waved her companion off. 

“You know what, just for that, I’m not buying anything else for you while we’re here,” Shego said. Kim laughed a little more, even though she suspected she might have just talked herself out of several little gifts.

“Come on,” Kim whined, poking out her bottom lip. “You’re not being a very good boyfriend,” she teased.

Shego balked at the very suggestion that she was “a boyfriend.” It was a good thing she had on the hat or Kim would have noticed the complete expression and she would have never let Shego live it down. Shego then tried to play things off to make sure Kim did not know that she had gotten to Shego with that comment.

“Well, you’re not being a loyal kitsune, talking to that guy and everything,” Shego shot back.

“He was talking to me. He thought he was so great because he’s a prince. He even introduced himself as a prince,” Kim pointed out, rolling her eyes. Did he really think he could just throw his status around and impress her? 

“You know, just because you don’t introduce yourself as a princess doesn’t mean everyone else is the same,” Shego stated.

“Not really a princess considering my grandmother is still in charge of the Possible district of land and even if she wasn’t, my dad wouldn’t inherit it anyway,” the redhead explained.

Laughing, a taunting smile settled onto Shego’s face. “Don’t try to make it seem like you’re not a noble.” She saw she had an opening and she was going to go for it. Now, she was going to spend the festival taunting Kim about her noble status. Too bad Kim had missed her reaction on that “boyfriend” comment or she would have had ammunition to fire back with. 

-8-8-8-8-

Wally watched as Kim walked off with the mysterious ronin. He could not believe a vagabond had such a wonderful creature to spend the festival with. Kim should be celebrating with him. He was a prince, after all. His father’s castle was right there, looming over the city. Only the castle in Edo rivaled it in his opinion. The celebration they all attended was in honor of his ancestor. So, why should he not be able to have Kim if he was such a great prince?

He did not see any reason as to why he should not have Kim. He definitely would not allow that shiftless, smart aleck ronin have her. So, he walked off to return home and speak with his father. He had to tell the older man about how he ran into the most heavenly creature of all time and he had to tell his father now.

His father seemed a bit amused through the whole thing, his eyes shining through the tale. But, he listened to every word his son said as the boy beamed over some girl. He made sure not to smile while the young man went through the tale, not wanting to mock Wally.

“So, what should I do, Father?” Wally inquired once he was done relaying the encounter between him, the heavenly creature, and the ronin that ruined everything.

“I don’t know, my son. This girl might be beneath you,” his father pointed out. He would prefer his son not trouble himself over a girl who might be classless and worthless when he could easily obtain a better female. But, for whatever reason the boy wanted the redheaded girl. And his father could guess the reason, even though neither of them spoke it aloud since they were gentlemen. 

“No, I saw her, Father. She was certainly an angel and she was someone of status,” the young man argued. He was certain she was someone just because of the look that she had and the way that she carried herself. Everything about her screamed noble birth, even if she did not say so.

“Well then, I suppose we should look into obtaining her then, if only for a look at her. Do you know where she is?” his father inquired.

“Well, I just saw her at the festival. She was with this irksome plebeian. The fellow had an awful hat and black hakama. I don’t know what she was doing with that filthy ronin. The girl, she was a wonderful redhead. I’ve never seen anyone like her. She was enchanting,” Wally sang Kim’s praises.

“An enchanting redhead?” the older man muttered. His mind went right to where most people’s minds went when it came to Kim. Perhaps she was a fox spirit, he thought. It would explain why his son was so enraptured with her. It would also explain why she was with some ronin instead of going off with Wally. Kitsune were terribly loyal to those they were enchanted with.

“Yes, she was lovely. You’ll see, Father. We just have to get her here and you’ll see,” the boy insisted.

“All right, all right. I’ll see about getting this girl tonight. There can’t be many redheads with ronin in the city.”

Wally nodded. He was glad his father thought like he did because the whole reason that he told his father about the girl, well, aside from the fact that he thought she was best looking girl ever, but he knew his father would assist in him looking to make the girl his. His father had a habit of spoiling him. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim held Shego up as they stumbled into their hotel room. The pale woman had had just a little too much to drink. Kim was a little embarrassed by it when they were outside. She was not very used to being around people who drank alcohol like Shego did. In her family, everyone just drank regular tea. Every now and then, her grandmother or her uncle might have a taste of alcohol, but nothing to get themselves tipsy like Shego was.

“Hey, Princess, that sure was fun, wasn’t it?” Shego whispered into Kim’s ear and she then nipped the body part since she was next to it. Her hat was now on her back, having fell off her head several drinks ago.

“Yeah, it was,” Kim replied as she put Shego down. “You stay here and I’m going to go find something to sober you up.” 

“I don’t need sobering up. Don’t go anywhere. Come here,” Shego urged the younger female and she grabbed Kim by the hand. 

The olive-eyed samurai yelped as she was tugged down to her companion. Shego embraced Kim as soon as the smaller female was on her. Before Kim could get herself together, Shego kissed her deeply. Kim did not fight the kiss, but she still tried to get herself from being sprawled out on raven-haired warrior. Shego was not helping much, though. 

Shego reached out and began caressing Kim. The redhead gasped and then moaned as Shego’s fingers danced across her chest. She nearly fell over, but she put her hand down on the floor to brace herself. She then remembered Shego was drunk, so she started pulling away, only to have the drunken woman follow her.

“Shego,” Kim whispered against the super-powered female’s lips since that was as far as she could get away. 

“What?” Shego replied.

“I’m going to go find something to sober you up,” the younger woman repeated. 

“Let’s look at it this way, Princess.”

“What way?” 

“I’m sober enough to kiss you and know we should be naked instead of talking. That’s fucking sober,” Shego declared with a laugh. She thought that was close enough anyway and even if she was drunk, she did not have to do anything for the rest of the night but lay with her princess, so she did not see why she could not just stay tipsy.

“No, it’s not. You’re really drunk.”

“So what? You got a problem with that?” Shego inquired, seemingly insulted in the way that only an intoxicated person could be when it was pointed out that she was drunk. 

“You’re drunk, tenshi (angel). Let me go get something to help absorb that alcohol,” Kim replied gently.

Shego was taken aback by the sudden pet name for her and did not object. Blinking, she found herself unable to move for a moment. Kim took the few seconds of silence to leave the room. Shego stared at the closed door that the redhead had just gone out of her. Tenshi? Had Kim really just called her that? She knew Kim had done just that because of the warm feeling spreading through her and the way her heart fluttered in her chest.

No one had ever called her an angel before. Every time someone saw her, they quickly assumed she was a demon of some kind. People always called her “oni” or “akuma” before she even did anything to them. Even in her family, her older brother always tried to make it seem like she was the bad one of their bunch. She was always the one who did something wrong, even if she did not mean it or know it.

“Tenshi…” Shego whispered and her heart fluttered once more. It made her smile. The nickname seemed to have that sobering affect Kim wanted.

The emerald-eyed female sat there in a position of sheer concentration. She put her hand to her chin and rubbed her chin with her index finger. Was that what Kim saw when she looked at her? Did she really see someone worthy of being considered an angel? She would ask when Kim came back and it did not take too long for that to happen.

“Hey, Shego, the innkeeper told me this is really good for hangovers,” Kim said as she came in with a cup. She went right over to Shego and handed her the cup of warm liquid. 

“You do know that hangovers are what you get when you wake up after drinking too much, right?” Shego asked, looking down at the cup. She was actually a little touched Kim had even gone and gotten her the drink. It was rare that people went out of their way for her; in fact, she could not recall the last person to do it. 

“It’s the best I could do,” Kim replied as she sat down next to her companion.

“It’s fine.” Shego stared at the cup for a little while longer. “Kim-hime, you called me something before you left the room. Did you mean it?”

“Did I mean it?” Kim echoed, her eyebrows knitting in close.

“Yeah, did you?” Shego needed to know. 

The petite female thought on it. It was a nickname that just came to mind at that very second, but she supposed she did mean it. Shego was like an angel to her. A drunken angel at the moment, but an angel nonetheless.

“Yeah, I did,” Kim confirmed with a nod and a smile. “You’re my angel, tenshi.” 

They sat in silence for a moment and then Shego suddenly turned to Kim. She leaned down and placed a deep, tender kiss on the younger female’s mouth. Kim guessed she had said the right thing.

“You are so wonderful,” Shego whispered as she pulled away for a breath. She also put her cup down off to the side to avoid making it a casualty of anything she might do in the moment. 

“So are you,” Kim replied and she stole a few pecks around Shego’s mouth. 

Shego was starting to understand she liked being praised by Kim. She thought she had always been the type that liked to be complimented, but it was different with Kim. It mattered so much more. She never wanted to let the younger warrior down because of that. She wanted Kim to always be able to praise her and not be lying when she did it.

“Kitsune…” Shego muttered. She wanted to say something, but she did not know what to say. So, she leaned down and kissed Kim again.

Shego wrapped her arms around Kim and lowered the slender female to the floor. Shego reached down for Kim’s obi, looking to get Kim out of her clothing. She went for the sash with one hand while her other hand sought the inside Kim’s kimono, wanting to touch her skin.

And then, they both stopped at the same time. They looked around and they both sighed. It would seem their evening was going to be about a different kind of fun. Why was it always something when they were alone together, they both silently lamented.

“Damn it, just when I was about to score,” Shego remarked. 

“You weren’t,” Kim teased.

“Yes, I was. You were about to be screaming my name.” 

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yeah, you were.”

Shego moved off of Kim and they sat up in a rather alert fashion. Shego tried to move her cup again, hoping to save its contents. Moments later their small room was invaded by ten masked men. They glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. They just did not think this was worth their time, let alone their efforts. The masked assailants went right at the ladies, which was fine by them. Kim and Shego sprang into action.

Shego went at a man with a straight punch to his face and broke his mask. He was knocked cold with the hit, too. As Shego got her balance, she spun around and kicked a third man. He was woozy, but still standing.

Kim went with a powerful kick and knocked the third guy through the door. She leaned in and head-butted a fourth man while hitting a fifth man behind her with the end of her sheathed sword. The fourth man fell back while the fifth coughed in agony, which was about all he had time to do as Shego grabbed him and used him to hit a sixth man by flinging him over her shoulder. 

“What the hell kind of women are these two?” one of the men wondered in sheer disbelief before he became the seventh man hit.

Kim took care of the eighth man with a combination of a hand strikes that the guy barely saw, but he certainly felt them, collapsing to the floor as soon as the assault ended. Shego worked the ninth guy out with her own combination of punches and he ended up on the floor, too. The last guy made a retreat and they decided to follow him, if only to see who was behind the interruption of their evening. The guy did not seem to notice they were following him since the only thing on his mind was escaping the fate of his comrades and he ran right back to where he came from.

“You know, this is a pretty nice castle,” Shego commented just to be ridiculous as she and Kim stood at the edge of town. They were on a rooftop, staring at the castle of the daimyo in charge of the land. 

“You don’t think Prince Wally behind this, do you?” Kim asked.

Scoffing, Shego rolled her eyes. “Doy. If he thinks he’s getting his hands on my hot, little fox, he’s got another thing coming.”

Kim glanced at Shego, not sure where she start commenting on that sentence. With a sigh, she decided to just let it go. They stood there for a while, figuring out what they should do. Should they just go in the castle and shake Wally until he knew better than to mess with Shego’s “hot, little fox” or should they just leave the town?

“I say let’s go in there and beat the snot out of that little arrogant piss-ant,” Shego declared with a grin as she punched her fist into her palm.

Kim shook her head. “I don’t think we should do that. It’s a lot of trouble and we don’t need that kind of attention and everything.”

Frowning, Shego let out an almost petulant huff. “He needs someone to teach him a lesson and I’m _that_ person. How dare he just come and try to take my princess. Who the hell does he think he is?” 

Kim placed a soothing hand on her companion’s shoulder. “Calm down, Shego.”

“No, no, no. Would you be calm if he tried to take me?” Shego asked, staring Kim down.

Kim opened her mouth to answer, but she quickly shut it. Someone take her tenshi from her? The sun would sooner fall out of the sky before she allowed that to happen. Okay, she might not be so calm if someone tried to take Shego, but she was not about to admit that. One of them had to be rational about things, after all.

“How about we sleep it off? If you’re still mad about it, we’ll go tomorrow and confront him,” the samurai suggested.

Shego sighed, but found she could not turn down the little redhead. They returned to the hotel and Kim politely requested they get a new room considering the fact that they had unwanted guests knocked out in the other one, not that she mentioned that latter bit. But, the innkeeper was not as friendly as she hoped and refused the request. Shego brushed her to the side.

“Let me show you how to do it, Princess,” the older female commented. 

“Um… okay,” Kim replied, planting herself off to the side and behind her companion.

Shego grabbed the innkeeper and held him off of the ground by his clothing. His eyes went wide and he gasped. Kim had guessed Shego was going to do something intimidating, but she allowed it without a word because they did need a new room. They had broken the door on the other one, after all, so even if the men they had beaten up were gone, they still were not planning to stay there.

“Now, I think she asked you for a new room. You might want to try for a different answer this time,” Shego informed the innkeeper and she tightened her hold on him a little, just for him to get the idea that she could hurt him a great deal if he gave the wrong answer.

“Of course,” he stammered, sweat rolling down his forehead. She smiled.

-8-8-8-8-

“This room is even better than the other one that we had,” Kim commented as she and Shego settled into their new hotel room.

“You just have to know how to talk to people,” Shego remarked with a devilish smirk and a shrug.

Olive eyes rolled. “You just have to know how to bully people.”

“Hey, I’m no bully. I just know how to get people to do what I want,” the raven-haired woman said and she grabbed Kim from behind. She pushed the red mane to the side and placed some tender pecks on Kim’s neck.

“You think that’ll get you what you want?” Kim inquired while trying not to sound like she was giving in.

Shego smiled against the nape of Kim’s neck. “I know I will. I’ve got power like that.”

Kim smiled a little bit, but she decided to play coy, trying to resist Shego. Resistance only made Shego more persistent, which was expected. It was rather entertaining in their opinions, but the main event was the best of course. 

-8-8-8-8- 

“Father, your men failed!” Wally whined to his father, who was actually trying to sleep. That meant nothing to the boy because he really wanted that redhead and he wanted her now! He wanted her to be his woman and he could get to know her, in many different ways.

“Wha?” the daimyo asked as he sat up in a daze. He looked rather puzzled because of the way his sleep had been disturbed.

“Your men failed. What are we going to do now? I want that girl,” Wally declared loudly, stomping his bare foot on the hardwood floor.

“Then you shall have her, my son. Just wait until morning,” his father replied while holding in a yawn.

“But, I want her now!” the boy stated, stomping his foot again. The thud echoed through the room.

“You’ll get her soon. Let me sleep, boy.” His father waved him away.

“How will I get her in the morning?” Wally asked curiously.

“We’ll get some people to go get her. More than ten. Now, leave me to sleep, boy,” his father said. 

“But, what are we going to do, Father?”

“I’ll handle it in the morning,” his father said in a rather grumpy tone.

Wally did not take the hint and continued to whine until his father cracked and just told him everything he had planned. With that, Wally was satisfied. He exited the room and let his father sleep, which the daimyo was thankful for. In the morning, they would settle things. 

And that was what they did. When the lord woke up, he sent for one of his men. He questioned the man about connections he had with some yakuza nearby. The man confirmed he did have connections with some gangs, so the lord informed him to tell the gangs he was offering a reward if they could bring to him a slim redheaded woman. So, he went spread the news and met with the yakuza leader on the highway, not too far from the town. He explained the situation.

“Aniki (big brother), it’s really easy money if you take this job,” the man said. 

“I’m not worrying about the money, seriously. I’m totally wondering if these are the same girls I’m looking for. If they are, the prince can have Aka-chan, but I get to keep the green on’na (woman), seriously,” Motor Ed informed the messenger.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: what new trouble does Motor Ed bring to the table? Will he get the “green on’na” while Wally gets Kim? Maybe it’ll be the other way around.

-8-8-8-8- 

1: Kamishimo: a two piece outfit made up of a vest and hakama, which was typical attire for samurai and court officials of the time.

2: Katiginu: the vest part of the kamishimo. It had wide shoulders and the back sort of hung like a cape, but not very long.


	26. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

26: Decisions

Shego groaned as her eyes realized there was sunlight invading the room. She reached for something, anything to cover her face with. The first thing she grabbed was Kim’s arm; it was very close by. She covered her eyes with Kim’s limb. It worked until the petite samurai moved. Shego groaned again.

“No,” Shego moaned, trying to keep Kim to her.

Kim did not even wake up, but she moved anyway, so Shego lost her limb. The pale woman reached for something else to cover her face, something that would preferably stay in place once she used it to save her from having to wake up. She was still tired and she had a minor headache. She guessed Kim was right; she was drunk last night. Ah well, at least she did not have anything to do and she could just sleep off the hangover if she wanted to. But, first, she had to block out the accursed sun and go back to sleep.

She eventually got her hands on a blanket that Kim was mostly using and she tossed it over her head, yanking it from her companion without a care. Kim yelped as the morning air hit her nude form and she woke up immediately. She covered herself with her hands as she sat up to figure out what happened to her sheet. She turned to see her companion using it as a shield for her eyes.

Kim, who was not ready to be awake yet either, snatched the blanket back. She settled back down on the bed and covered herself. Shego growled in a low tone when she felt the sunlight bothering her eyes again. She reached for the blanket again and stole it back, only for Kim to yank it again. Shego frowned and took the cover back, but it was stolen again.

“Will you just give it to me,” Shego demanded, or maybe whined. It was hard to tell with her being tired, annoyed, hungover, and speaking to Kim. Her hangover was not too bad; there was a slight pounding in her head, but not much. It was just enough to make her want to sleep the morning away, though.

“I had it first,” Kim replied, her eyes still closed as she attempted to go back to sleep. She had a good grip on the cover, too, just in case her companion had it in her head to tug it away again.

“So?” was the brilliant retort.

“It’s mine.” 

“So?”

“So, you can’t have it,” the redhead stated as if that was most logical answer of all and in her opinion, it was.

“Selfish,” Shego hissed.

“If you wanted one so badly, you shouldn’t have thrown yours across the room,” Kim reminded the green-skinned woman like an annoying little-miss-know-it-all in the older warrior’s opinion.

“I was hot,” Shego complained, as if that was relevant to the argument. She had taken her blanket and thrown it on the far side of the room some time last night. She never slept with a cover, even if it was snowing outside. She never seemed to get too cold, but she easily got hot.

“Well, you shouldn’t have thrown it to the other side of the room. You should’ve just put it to the side,” the redhead reasoned.

“What are you, my fucking mother talking like this? Just give me the fucking blanket,” Shego ordered.

“You will have to pry this blanket from my cold, dead hands.”

“Don’t tempt me, kitsune. Just give me the damn blanket.”

“No.”

“Give it to me.”

“No.”

“Give it to me.”

“If I just said no all the other times, why the hell would you keep asking? Do you think I’m going to change my answer? Get up and go get yours,” Kim proposed.

“That’s too far. Just give me yours. You’re not using it,” Shego argued.

“Yeah, I’m not using it to cover my eyes, but I am using it to keep warm.”

“What the hell do you think I’m here for?” Shego remarked and she pulled Kim close to her. “Better?”

Kim nodded because she certainly was not cold anymore. But, she still was not in the mood to just lie naked out in the open, especially since they had already had people burst into their room once before. So, she did not give up the blanket. 

“You’re being really annoying, you know that?” Shego huffed.

“It’s mine,” Kim replied. 

The fire-starter grumbled and started patting above her head. There had to be some article of clothing nearby, she thought. She felt something and grabbed it. Perfect, she thought as she saw what she had. She had gotten her hands on her obi. She put that over her eyes and settled down to get some more sleep and hopefully to get rid of her tiny headache. 

Since Shego was no longer acting up, Kim was able to go back to sleep, too. They both noted in the back of their minds that they had never really been big on sleeping in, but they did not mind it at the moment considering who they were next to. One of them hoped they would be able to do it more often while the other wished for the same thing.

They tried not to think about things like that, though. They preferred living in the moment more than anything else while they had the chance. There was no tomorrow to them until it was today. The future’s possibilities actually frightened them. The idea of being apart scared them, so they found not thinking about that to be better than considering that it was a part of their future. They tried their best to just focus on the now rather than the later. 

When they woke up the next time, they were a little friendlier to each other. Shego rubbed Kim’s shoulder while Kim kissed Shego’s collarbones. Shego pulled Kim closer and showered kisses to her forehead and cheeks. They leisurely explored each other’s bodies for a few minutes and then their stomachs growled. They both blushed and looked at each other.

“I guess we’re hungry,” Kim pointed out. 

“We did a lot working up an appetite last night,” Shego said.

They decided to get up for something to eat. Shego still had a bit of a headache and it seemed like everything going on outside was too loud for her, causing her head to throb when she heard just about anything. She guessed that whatever that drink was last night did not help hangovers as much as the innkeeper thought, or perhaps, she was getting a fraction of what she would have gotten if she had not drunk that mess. She actually had almost not taken the concoction because of the disturbance last night, but Kim had gotten her a second cup of it.

The duo got dressed, one tying her hat around her neck while the other put her fox mask on backwards again. Shego smiled at the sight. She knew she would get Kim to like being called a kitsune, but she did not say anything. They went outside. They hardly walked ten feet before seeing someone they never wanted to see again. It was not a good way to start the day that much was certain. 

“Hey, Aka-chan,” Motor Ed greeted Kim with a proud smile. He stood in front of them with a couple of his inventions behind him, the self-moving carts. One held his sidekick while the other one just had two of his other crew members.

“I don’t need this today,” Shego said, messaging her temples. Her headache got worse just from the sight of the blond monkey. As bad as it might sound, she wished he died, really. It would just make the world a better place in her opinion if he were not living anymore. 

“Take it easy. I’ll handle this one,” Kim informed her companion since she knew her lover had a headache. She sounded rather confident about that, which eased Shego’s nerves a bit.

“You’ve got an appointment with a prince, Aka-chan, seriously,” Motor Ed told them as he cracked his knuckles.

“Maybe you can handle this while I go crush a certain prince’s big head,” Shego stated, cracking her own knuckles. She knew Kim could handle Motor Ed and much more than three of his goons, so she felt safe with leaving the samurai with that idiotic group.

“Oh, no, you shouldn’t leave, Midori-san (green). After all, you’ve got an appointment with us,” Motor Ed smirked and motioned to himself and his goons.

Emerald eyes squinted at Ed for a moment and then Shego glanced at Kim. “I’m not following this at all. Is it because I’m hungover or because he just doesn’t make any sense?”

Kim shook her head. “I think it’s that he doesn’t make any sense. But, I’m guessing he’s giving me to Wally-sama, but plans to keep you for himself.” She did not know what other prince might want her and that was why she guessed that he was planning to give her to Wally. 

“Seriously, because Midori-san is, like, totally hot,” Motor Ed commented, confirming Kim’s theory. Well, Kim did agree that Shego was totally hot, but there was no way in hell she was going to let him have the pale woman.

“This is gross on so many levels I don’t even know where to start objecting to the plan,” Shego stated, shaking her head a bit.

“Don’t even bother. Let me handle it,” Kim said again, just as confident as before. She was actually more determined than before since Motor Ed seemed to think she was just going to let him take Shego from her. Four bad guys was really nothing in her opinion, especially since she knew they could not fight very well. All she had to do was watch them in those self-moving carts.

“Yeah, you handle this,” Shego agreed with that while glancing away to her right. She figured it was all right to trust Kim with what she considered light work, even if the morons had kidnapped Kim once, but they had no element of surprise right now. She was sure a warrior like Kim would be able to handle it. Her companion stepped forward. 

“Aka-chan, you can’t handle this on your own. There are more of us than you’re seeing, seriously,” Motor Ed said and then suddenly a dozen or so men came out of nowhere.

Kim ducked several attacks and went into fight mode. She struck with a quickness, sharpness, and gracefulness that would make a cat’s jaw drop in disbelief. Motor Ed could hardly believe his eyes. One small female was beating his entire crew. She knew she would be able to take them considering the fact that she had already done it once before. 

The redheaded warrior dropped her opponents as quickly as she could, tearing into them with the fastest, strongest palm strikes they had ever felt. But, while she cut into them and dropped them with great ease, a vehicle came at her and nearly mowed her down. She leaped out of the way and looked at the self-propelled wagon, more of which were coming out from alleyways.

It would seem Motor Ed and his people had modified their vehicles. On the front there were still spikes, but there was also what looked like a plow. It was triangular cut and went from the bottom of the vehicle to just high enough for the driver to see over it. It had metal spikes coming out of it too, so even if they hit Kim at a low speed, she was still going to have some heavy injuries. 

Also, to make sure she could not jump over the vehicles and kick them in the heads again, their vehicles now had coverings. It was simple tarp over the self-propelled cart, but it was enough. The covering could keep her kicks from being as on the mark as before if she did try it and since the tarp was tied over the vehicles, they hoped it would keep her leg from reaching the drivers. 

“You guys just want me to pull my sword, don’t you?” Kim remarked with a smile. She was still sure she could handle the group, but it was probably going to take more time than she thought considering how many of them there were. There was also the fact that she was in a town now and not an open area like she had been before. She would have be more careful because there were bystanders somewhere around. 

“Get her!” the blond man commanded his gang. 

The still standing men attempted to put a fist or foot on Kim, but she worked them out again. She then had to dodge a vehicle again. Someone pulled a gun and aimed it at her, but she was out of sight before he could fire a shot. Next thing he knew, his gun barrel hit the dirt and his target was next to him, sheathing her sword. He gasped.

“I don’t really like guns, you know? Any idiot can fire a gun,” Kim commented with a serious look on her face. 

The man gasped, as he knew he was about to feel the wrath of Hell against his body and he was just about right. Kim gave him quite the hurting from a series of kicks, all directed at his lower ribs. She only stopped when he fell to the ground in dire agony. She really hated guns, especially when they were used so easily around a town where just about anyone could be hit. 

Kim then had to move out of the way as one of the other men tried to hit her from behind. She grabbed him and flung him over her shoulder. She held him down and worked his chest with punches as quickly as she could before having to turn her attention to more opponents and also having to get out of the way of a few vehicles.

“Come on, seriously! Get her!” Motor Ed barked.

“We’re trying, aniki!” the few men still standing replied. 

A couple of other vehicles joined in the effort, but trying to hit Kim with anything was like trying to hit a fly with a boulder. They noticed she had not problem hitting them, even if they were in their vehicles. What no one noticed was that Shego was gone; she had been gone since the chaotic battle began.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego hummed softly to herself as she calmly jogged down the street. She had dashed away when all the confusing fighting started with Kim and Motor Ed’s gang. She trusted Kim, which was why she felt all right with stepping away. Kim did not need a babysitter any more than she did. 

It was good Kim was such a great warrior, Shego thought. She had something else that she wanted to take care of since Kim was being all cute and defending her. The action made her like Kim all the more. 

Shego felt special. When was the last time someone defended her honor? She was not sure if there was a time. Maybe when her father was alive, he had done it, but she could not recall such a time at the moment. She did not see why he would have to do that now that she thought about it. So, right now, Kim was the only person in existence to ever defend her and it was a precious feeling.

It was odd. She thought she would be angry if someone ever tried to stand up for her. It was as if the person would be saying she was weak, but since it never happened, she never found out. While it was happening now, she liked it, but she considered it was only because it was Kim. If some arrogant prick of a guy tried it, she probably would beat his head in. She suspected Kim was the same and she was right on the money with that guess. Another thing they had in common seemed to be that they were both possessive of each other, which she had guessed long before Kim stepped up to Motor Ed for her.

The best she could do in her opinion was return the favor, which was what she planned to do now. She disliked that someone thought he could just steal Kim from her and that would make Kim his. What kind of mindset was that, anyway? She did not get what made someone think they could just snatch another person and keep that person. Maybe it worked, she considered, but she would never know because she never tried it and was not looking to try it. 

She was not looking to find out if it worked with her kitsune either, so she was going to nip a certain problem in the bud as soon as she could. She was calm about it, even though many people might consider it a suicide mission or at the least a fool’s errand. She thought it was the best thing she could do for a certain bigheaded prince in order to save his life. After all, if he kept acting stupid, she would have to do something very painful to him, something he just would not like.

She arrived at the castle minutes after she started out for the place. She had to handle some hardheaded guards who did not seem to understand she was trying to save Wally’s life. She also had to use some smarter guards to find out where the idiot prince was hiding himself. They were easy to deal with, even while she suffered from a slight headache. Having clawed hands that could be set ablaze came in handy, Shego noted a long time ago. 

Once she found out where to find Wally, she made her way there in a flash. She surprised him by a pond in the inner workings of the castle. He was feeding some fish and she approached him as if it was going to be that easy, which she was aware it would not be. Guards came out of nowhere to engage her in combat. 

Wally turned when he heard the sound of battle. He was shocked to see what was going on. Shego was surrounded by five guards, who were dressed as gardeners as disguises. He did not seem too worried, which was why he did not run away with an intruder in his area. After all, his guards were the best in his opinion. 

“Only an idiot would do something so brazen as to come here with the guards we have,” Wally commented, shaking his head.

Shego was not in the mood to dance around with the guards, especially when that arrogant prince standing only a couple of yards away from her. She let them taste her claws for them to get the idea that they were no match for her, cutting through any weapons that they had with them. They did not seem to take the hint.

Shego rapidly sliced up one guard until he had literally lost his shirt to her and was bleeding rather badly from his chest. She lifted a guard up that came up behind her and she flung him into the pond. She then had to dodge a man with a sickle. She moved out of the way of the blade and cut through the handle of the weapon. The guard gasped and looked incredulously as his weapon was dismantled.

“You could run if you want,” Shego teased him before hitting him with her best punch. He collapsed instantly. 

There were still two guards, but Shego noticed Wally was now trying to make a getaway. She acted quickly and dashed toward him. She grabbed him by the back of the neck while the guards were dumbstruck that she could move so rapidly. Shego had Wally in her grips while his guards were still over six feet away from them. She put her nails to Wally’s throat and the protectors stopped before they had even started.

“What are you two doing? Come save me,” Wally ordered them.

“They’re not going to move, oji-sama,” Shego commented smugly. The guards had observed what her bare hands could do and they had just seen how fast she was. They knew she could decapitate Wally before they even got a foot closer.

“It’s you, isn’t it? The ronin,” Wally said, which did not make any sense to him. The way the ronin acted when he met the vagabond, he had been certain that the ronin was a man and Kim’s lover. 

“It might be.”

“You’re a fool for coming here,” the prince proclaimed arrogantly.

“So says the fool who is at my mercy,” Shego remarked and she pressed her nails into his neck, cutting into his flesh slightly for him to understand just who was in charge. Tiny drips of blood oozed from his pierced skin.

“What do you want? Money? I can give you plenty,” Wally stated, obviously all too aware of his precarious situation now. 

“I’ll bet you could, but I don’t want money. I might not look it, but I’ve got more than I know what to do with. I’ve noticed you’re very fond of my kitsune,” Shego replied.

“You’re kitsune?” he echoed in a tremble of a voice. He wondered how it was possible for her to have such claws. Was she a demon of some kind?

“Kim. She’s my little fox. I don’t like that you’re trying to take her from me. So, I tell you what, you forget you ever met her and I’ll make sure we never see each other again,” Shego told him in a very calm and precise manner.

“What?” Wally asked as if he was outraged by that very sweet deal in Shego’s opinion. After all, she could always just tear his windpipe out of his neck and move on with her life.

“Look, I don’t need you acting like an idiot. I’ve got a fucking headache and discovered I’ve got a really short temper, shorter than usual, when it comes to people trying to pick up my kitsune. Now, you forget about her or this is going to get fucking messy,” Shego growled as she dug her claws into his neck a little bit more.

Wally whimpered a bit and in that moment, his guards spring into action. They began throwing shuriken at Shego. She threw Wally to the ground and ignited her hands. She was able to deflect the weapons with the plasma protecting her hands. She then threw her own projectiles.

“These work better,” Shego remarked as she let the plasma spheres fly and they connected with the guards. Both men fell back and Shego turned her attention back to Wally, who was quivering on the ground.

“What are you?” Wally inquired through chattering teeth. 

“Never mind that. Are you going to forget about my princess or am I going to have to make you forget?” she asked with a snarl, her hands still blazing grass green. 

Wally whimpered instead of responding and then she noticed a big wet spot in front of his hakama. She frowned in disgust. To think that such a cowering worm could even try to have her girl. What would he do with Kim? What made him think that he was worthy of her?

“I’m going to take the piss stain as my answer. Don’t think about Kim anymore. She’s not some whore you can just pick up or buy or something like that, dickhead,” Shego stated firmly and she left. Wally breathed a sigh of relief and fell back into the dirt. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim dropped the last of Motor Ed’s men, sending the blond into a fury. She hated that it had taken so long, but she had to make sure that the least amount of damage happened to the town or the people there. Motor Ed snarled and turned to his vehicle, which was being watched by his short sidekick. He grabbed the small fellow and flung him out of his invention. Motor Ed then aimed his vehicle at Kim, who was a few yards away.

“How about a game of chicken, Aka-chan, seriously!” Motor Ed practically sang. She had already taken his other vehicles by having his men crash into various large items or going through them with her sword.

“I don’t think this is a very fair game, seriously,” Kim mocked him as she put her hand on the hilt of her katana. She had not really had to use the blade, just out maneuvering her opponents and attacking them with her fists or feet when it was necessary. Every now and then, she cut through one of the vehicles to make sure no one in town got hurt by it. 

“It’s designed for me to win,” he declared with a maniacal laugh.

“That’s not what I meant.” 

Motor Ed’s creation powered forward and Kim did the same. The blond began to cackle more as they drew closer and closer. The samurai pulled her sword in the blink of an eye and metal met metal.

The laughter stopped along with the vehicle. Kim stood behind it, sheathing her weapon. Motor Ed’s whole face seemed to drop and then his vehicle broke down, split completely in half. He hit the ground, landing on his rump, causing dust to fly up.

“I told you the game wasn’t very fair,” Kim commented rather haughtily as she turned to look at Motor Ed.

“You cut through my whole ride, seriously,” he muttered in disbelief, looking around him at various parts of his ride. 

“You’ll be next if you ever think about taking Shego from me. She’s not some prize you can claim, not some toy you can steal. So, leave her alone because if you thought this sword went through your tinker toy with ease, just imagine what it’s like going through human flesh,” Kim stated, glaring down at him with fire in her eyes. 

Motor Ed did not respond. He just passed out. He could not take the fact that she had sliced through his invention with such ease. She had gone through his baby pretty much and it was just too much for him.

“You got a pretty good sword there,” Shego said as she walked up to Kim, coming from the wrong direction in Kim’s opinion because she came from behind the samurai.

The green-skinned woman was glad to see she had not made a mistake in leaving Kim on her own. She was a fantastic little samurai, Shego silently noted. Inside, pride blossomed in her chest. She sure knew how to pick ‘em.

“It was made by the best swordsmith in the land,” Kim replied. Her swords had actually been gifts from her grandmother when she became an adult; it was weird for a woman who swore she needed to act more like a noblewoman to offer her the very weapons that made her a samurai, but her grandmother understood her more than she let on. 

“You know, you sounded almost sinister threatening his life like that. I almost believed you would do it,” Shego said with a teasing smile on her face. 

“Maybe I would,” Kim argued as she walked over to meet Shego and they started walking the direction that Shego seemed to be coming from. 

“I doubt it. You’re too good. You don’t even draw your sword until the last minute. Let’s get some breakfast and then get out of here,” Shego suggested. She had noted that in that game of chicken, the redhead had not pulled her sword until the last possible moment, like Kim did not want to hurt him.

Kim nodded to that, feeling even hungrier now than she had earlier. The duo had their meal, got some food to go just in case they had to spend a day or two in the woods, and they made their way out of town back onto the road. They quickly found a side path to take, with the hope of avoiding any other inspection posts. Shego put her arm around Kim and they strolled on. 

They walked on at a leisure pace as they had done throughout their whole journey. They knew they were delaying the inevitable, but they did not care. They just wanted some time alone and some time together. There was no tomorrow, they kept telling themselves. There was only today. Today was all that mattered.

They ended up camping out in the woods, which bothered Shego slightly. Kim was used to better things, but she was not so opposed to sleeping on the ground that she would complain. Shego seemed to like to complain just for the hell of it and she was grumpy about sleeping on ground until Kim curled up next to her, snuggling into her chest. Okay, maybe it was not so bad, she silently conceded.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kim and Shego could see a village in the distance of the path that they were on. They wondered if it would be a good place for them to get some food. They had finished off their reserves for breakfast and they would not mind having lunch if it was possible.

As they got closer to the village, they saw people working in the fields, which they expected. What they did not expect was the few large, fully armored and armed huge samurai. They looked around at the odd sight.

“Wow, maybe if Senior-sama had a few hundred men that size, he probably wouldn’t have even needed Drakken,” Shego commented.

“I doubt there are a hundred men that size,” Kim remarked.

Shego was about to say something, but both of their attentions were turned to a horrible sight. They watched one of the samurai push an obviously pregnant woman down and he seemed to be about to draw his sword on her. Shego knew what was going to happen before it even happened. 

“Let it go, Princess,” Shego said. “It’s none of your business,” she pointed out. 

Kim did not listen. She sprang into action. She dashed forward with her hand on her sword hilt and she pulled the weapon. She used her blade to block the weapon of the other samurai as he was about to bring his sword down on the pregnant woman. Kim grunted as the force came down on her and actually pushed her deep into the mud. She strained to take control of the situation and pushed the samurai back. Kim then got into guarded stance, standing in front of the woman to protect her.

The gigantic samurai snarled and he moved forward to attack Kim. Shego came out nowhere, leading in devastating punch. The samurai made a strange noise as the blow landed and fell to the dirt. His helmet rolled off of his head. 

“Damn it, Princess. Why do you have to go helping people and crap?” Shego complained, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Are you all right?” Kim inquired, speaking to the fallen woman. She also leaned down and offered a hand to help the woman up. 

“Yes, thank you. You shouldn’t have interfered, though. It will only put you in danger,” the woman informed Kim, who smiled.

“Don’t worry, danger is something I’m very familiar with,” the redhead remarked, still smiling in a very friendly manner. 

Shego rolled her eyes and decided to go check on the unconscious samurai. She nearly fell back when she saw his face. She did not even know what she was looking at.

“Um… Princess, I don’t think this is something you’re familiar with,” Shego commented.

“What do you mean? You seen one jerk, you’ve seen them all,” Kim replied as she walked over to look for herself. She almost jumped when she saw the guy. “What the hell is that?” the redhead inquired.

“Told you you’re not familiar with it,” Shego remarked. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: so, what does the samurai look like? And watch as Kim and Shego help out some more villagers in distress.


	27. Watch This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

27: Watch This

“Okay, seriously, what the hell is that?” Kim inquired with her face scrunched up. She and Shego stared down at a giant samurai that Kim had rescued a pregnant woman from and that Shego knocked out with one punch. There was an anomaly with him, though.

“He looks like a big monkey,” Shego commented as she shoved his head with her foot. He certainly had a monkey head and it was covered in black fur.

“But, how did a monkey get that big?” Kim wondered out loud, shaking her head a little. She would guess it was some kind of demon, as it was the only way that she would be able to explain how a monkey ended up about the size of two grown men.

“Hell if I know,” Shego replied and then she turned her attention to the woman who Kim saved. “Hey, what’s with the big ass monkey?” she inquired while nodding down at the fallen samurai.

“They’re Watchers,” the pregnant woman answered. She spoke in a small voice, mostly from fear and exhaustion. She was an average looking female with long raven hair that was tied in a ponytail. She looked sickly, even though she was tanned from working in the fields undoubtedly, and she appeared very weary, with lines and bags under her eyes, to the two travelers that felt it necessary to give her a good look since they had eliminated the threat to her. They wanted to make sure they made it in time.

“Yeah, that explains a lot. Not! Watchers for what?” Shego inquired and then she started looking around to make sure more of them were not coming over to check on. And she was right to check.

“We do seem to be having company,” Kim noted, too. More of the so-called Watchers were approaching them and they doubted it was for a friendly conversation, especially if they were all giant monkeys.

“I told you not to help,” Shego admonished her companion with a withering look. While she enjoyed a good fight, she would rather not have to deal with hulking, stinking monkeys.

“Oh, so I’m supposed to just let a big monkey thing kill a pregnant woman?” Kim asked incredulously.

“It would save me a lot of trouble,” the pale woman replied. 

“Yeah, like you would’ve just let that happen,” Kim scoffed at her companion.

Shego only looked at Kim. Fine, so she would not have allowed the thing to just kill a pregnant woman, but she knew she did not have to react since Kim would. And since Kim reacted, Shego was free to act like she was totally annoyed with everything that was going on. Shego liked that system quite a bit.

“All right, there’s only four of them. You take two and I take two and we don’t help anymore,” Shego stated.

Kim did not agree with that; she just ran off. She leaped into the air and went in for a kick in the head on one of the samurais, who were in total armor, including helmets that hid their faces. She took off his helmet with that move, but did not drop him. Without the helmet, it was revealed that he was also a giant monkey with long black fur. He snorted in anger, breathing some very funky air in her direction. Kim hit him with a few punches in the head until he did fall. She had to jump for such an attack and dodge his counters as he attempted to stop her.

She then leaped over to the next primate and kicked his helmet off too, revealing yet another large, dark-haired monkey. He hollered at the lose of his helmet, displaying some rather sharp canine teeth and showing his breath smelled even worse than the other creature’s breath. He pounded his chest in some kind of display that went way over her head and she really did not care. She wailed on him until he dropped, having to jump again for all of her attacks, and then she settled on the ground once she was done.

Shego did not go as far as Kim had. She did not knock off the helmets of her opponents because she was not looking to forward to finding out if they were monkeys, too. She kicked them in the heads, but she hit them hard enough to dent the helmets and knock them out cold without having to remove the helmet first. She also did not have to suffer smelling their breath. They fell over, joining the other three monkey samurai in the mud of the rice field.

“Well, that was easy,” Shego muttered while looking down at the fallen creatures.

“Maybe that was the B squad,” Kim remarked. She scanned the field just to make sure no other giant apes were going to charge out at them. All she saw were tired-looking people working in the rice field, though.

“Well, let’s get going then,” Shego stated, as if they could just beat up some samurais and leave like no problems were going to come up. She knew things were probably not going to go that way, but she had to chance it.

“We can’t just leave. We have to make sure everything is all right around here. What if some other warriors come back and try to kill her again?” Kim asked while pointing to the pregnant woman, whose mouth hung open, like she was rather incredulous to the work that the two travelers had just done. Shego rolled her eyes in annoyance while the rescued female gawked at them even more.

“So, you were telling us that these things are Watchers. So, what the hell are they watching? What’s going on around here?” Shego asked the female they rescued. She hoped a question would get the woman to stop looking at them as if they were just as freaky as those giant primate-things.

“They’re around to make sure we work in the fields for as long as the lord demands it,” the tired pregnant woman answered. She finally regained some manners and stopped looking at Kim and Shego as if they were freaks. Her dark brown eyes gave a hint of awe that she felt just from seeing them in action, though.

“We just had to be on the road when every freaking daimyo is not in Edo,” Shego mumbled and she shook her head. She was willing to bet that if it was the time for all of the lords to be in Edo, they would have had quite the relaxing trip, save the couple of times when bandits were a problem. (1)

“Do you guys get worked hard?” Kim asked while looking around more. She saw that the people were still working the field, even though she and Shego had knocked out the guards. They were really into their work, too, making sure not to lose speed, even though the “Watchers” were out. None of them even looked up to see what was going on, or moved to speak with her or Shego. It was like they had been trained, or scared, into working through everything.

“It’s wearing down on some of us, but others would be out here anyway. The problem is that we don’t get much of what we grow, no matter what it is. Friske-sama takes almost everything,” the woman informed them. The explanation helped them understand why everyone looked they suffered from malnutrition and exhaustion.

“Oh, boo-hoo,” Shego said, even though she knew Kim’s heart was probably breaking in half for the people.

Shego hoped they could wrap things up soon and she could get out of the puddle they stood in, even though she knew her clothing was going to be muddy even when they stepped out of the water. She already knew they were probably going to have go “chat” with Friske-sama considering the fact that one of his men… monkey… thing… whatever was about to slay a pregnant woman for no reason. She would like to “discuss” the matter with him, not that he would like it. The discussion would include her fist in his face and a lot of yelling about how he had no right to just kill people for no reason.

“Why?” Kim asked the pregnant woman while making sure to ignore her snide companion. The redhead had an intent look on her face, which displayed her interest more than her questions did. It was obvious she wanted to do something about what just happened.

“We don’t know what he does with everything, but he’s left us all at the brink of poverty. It’s believed he uses the food to feed the Watchers. We really don’t know,” the rescued female answered. It made sense to them that he would use the food to feed such large beings. They had to require a lot of food because of their size.

“I could go talk to the guy for you. I mean, this isn’t cool that he’s got these Watcher things out here and they’re pushing around a pregnant woman and everything. That thing was about to kill you, after all. Does that happen often?” the samurai inquired with a wrinkled brow. If it was something that happened often, she might need to do a little more than talking to the daimyo. Little did she know, but Shego was well ahead of her with those thoughts.

“It happens very often,” the woman stated, adding a nod just to show her seriousness. The grim look in her eyes said way more than her words, though.

“That doesn’t seem very productive. If he kills you guys off, then he doesn’t have anyone to work the fields and crap,” Shego pointed out. Why was it that tyrants and madman could not be practical, too?

“He doesn’t have to worry much. When travelers come through here, the Watchers take them captive and they’re forced to stay here,” the woman explained.

Shego sighed; so, the guy was practical. That was new and she did not like it. She glanced down at Kim, who looked determined about something. Shego knew the redhead was determined about stopping what she perceived as an injustice. Shego figured she could go along for the ride, complain a little, but in the end, have some fun and do a little good in the world because she was not very much in favor of what was going in the village herself.

“Tell us all about this thing,” Kim gently demanded from the pregnant woman.

She had no problem telling the duo about what was going on, even though she had already filled them in on most of what she knew. The Watchers were all huge monkey monsters. They were there to make sure the villagers always worked, especially growing food, and made sure no one escaped the village. The creatures often beat and killed the villagers, even small children, for the smallest mistakes or just stopping to rest for a moment. They stole travelers who tried to pass through the lord’s domain and she pointed out many such taken people, who were out there working that very moment. The only rest the people got was when they were allowed to sleep.

“Fiend!” Kim growled with almost hatred in her voice while heatedly punching her fist into her palm.

“Is that his castle?” Shego calmly asked while pointing toward a palace in the distance. She was pretty outraged with the gall of the daimyo, but she was not going to let it show like her companion. Heaven forbid she gave off the impression that she actually cared about people and their wellbeing.

“It is,” the pregnant woman confirmed.

“Come on, kitsune,” Shego sighed in annoyed fashion.

“Huh?” Kim asked in a confused tone. Where did Shego want her to go? 

“You want to stop this guy from terrorizing these people, right? We’re going to need to go find him to do that. So, let’s moving. If we do this quick enough, we might be able to get some lunch out of these people,” Shego commented. The whole reason they had wandered near the village was because they had run out off food that morning anyway. So, she figured the sooner they got Kim’s new crusade out of the way, the sooner they would be able to bum some food off of the villagers.

Kim shrugged and she did not argue that one because she did want to stop the lord. She thought it was great that she did not have to talk Shego into either. She knew that Shego had just as much a problem with what was going on as she did, even though the green-skinned woman was trying to play indifferent. 

She and Shego started walking toward the castle. The pregnant woman watched them leave in sheer disbelief. She could not believe they were just going to walk into the belly of the beast, as it were. But then again, she could not believe they had easily defeated five Watchers. They were strange girls, she thought. And as they walked away, she felt the idea that they were strange was confirmed because Kim was still wearing her fox mask on backwards.

“Do you always help people that need it?” Shego asked Kim, even though she could guess the answer to that.

“I try,” Kim answered with a small smile and in a light tone. She was obviously proud of what she did, even though she could kind of tell it got on Shego’s nerves. “Why do you act like it’s so irksome? I mean, you helped.”

“Only because I was there and you would’ve gotten your head taken off if I didn’t,” the raven-haired warrior stated.

“If that’s what you want to tell yourself,” Kim replied with a shrug and another smile.

Shego snorted. She was not out to be helpful and she had only acted because Kim had. She might not have kept walking when the pregnant woman was going to get slain, but she definitely would not have decided to go to the lord and have words with him because she would not have taken the time out of her life to ask the village’s history anyway. It would have taken something like one of those Watchers attempting to force her to work and then she might have gotten so pissed about that that she could have gone to thump up the daimyo and teach him a lesson in hospitality.

“You know, I wouldn’t think less of you if you admitted to being okay with helping,” Kim informed her companion.

“Like I give a damn what you think,” Shego remarked, smiling a bit herself now to show that she was teasing.

Kim laughed a little bit. She wished Shego would be a bit more open about her feelings, especially since she would not think less of the pale woman. She figured she would only hold Shego in higher esteem if the older warrior would only admit to not being as bad as she acted. Shego had no intention of doing such a thing, though. She had an image to maintain, after all. 

They continued on their stroll and came to the castle as the sun began to set. Giant monkey guards, ten of them to be precise, met them. The guards were in full armor just like the Watchers in the fields. Shego went off to the right while Kim went to the left and they both took on five of the monkeys. During the fighting that broke out, the ladies learned the huge primates were not carrying swords just to look more genuine. The monkeys actually knew how to use their katanas.

“Oh, give me a break,” Shego groaned as she drew her sword to block the weapon of a Watcher.

“Who would’ve thought monkeys could be so smart?” Kim wondered aloud as she countered the move of one guard and cut his arm through his armor. The monkey howled loudly in pain and backed away from the redhead for a few seconds to think about what he had just done. 

“This is just wrong on so many levels,” Shego commented as she took a forceful swing against the primates fighting her. Three of the Watchers against her fell back, hollering in agony.

Kim agreed with that as she turned her attention to the other monkeys looking to battle her. It was a good thing Ron was not on this trip with her, as he definitely would not be helping her during this battle. She took her weapon in both hands as tightly as possible and rushed into the beasts against her. The monkeys cried out in a terrible scream before they dropped to the ground. She sheathed her sword as soon as they hit the dirt, not bothering to look at them as they did so.

“You’re just a showoff,” Shego commented. Kim smiled, as if it was the truth, but she did not want to admit it. “Well, can’t let a youngster show me up,” Shego remarked truthfully. She definitely could not let her younger lover show her up.

“Hey, I’m not a youngster,” Kim huffed, as if that was a real insult. Yes, she was still a teenager, but she was a grown woman. 

Shego rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword. It was time to get a little serious, so she ignited her hands. She went at her other two opponents and took them down in one move. She then powered down her hands and looked at the redhead with a smirk on her face.

“If you want to make this a competition, don’t think I’ll back down,” Kim stated with confidence in her voice. 

“Oh no?” Shego asked in a rather intrigued tone. It was promising to find out that her little kitsune was up to compete.

“I won’t,” the olive-eyed female stated. 

“Fine, you want to make a game out of it? Whoever defeats the most Watchers before we get to the lord, gets to fight this asshole,” Shego said.

“Fine.”

“No, there’s more,” Shego continued on.

“More?” Kim echoed in a puzzled tone. It seemed like a good gamble to her so far, so why should there be more?

Shego smirked. “Of course there’s more, Princess. There’s always more when it comes to me. This next part will have to be held off until we’re alone, though. But, the winner gets to have her way with the loser.”

Kim’s eyebrows shot up in shock. Did those words mean what she thought they meant? She was not sure how she felt about that. She would not even know where to begin having her with Shego, but a voice in the back of her head was demanding that she take that offer and she could figure the rest out later on after she won.

“Fine,” Kim agreed.

“Good.” Shego smirked like a demon that had caught sight of new prey and Kim wondered if she had just bitten off more than she could chew, but she convinced herself she could handle a little competition. It was not like she ever lost anyway.

The pair knew they had to trust each other to tell the truth as they kept count of the beasts they fought, but that did not even enter their minds. It was like a given and they trusted each other to tell the truth. Right now, all they were worrying about was how to get into the castle.

“Look at that tree,” Kim said, pointing over to rather tall tree.

“That’s kind of careless. Just when I thought this guy had some sense in his head, he just allows a big ass tree grow next to his castle wall,” Shego commented in disbelief. 

“Let’s just be thankful he’s not as smart as you thought,” the samurai said as she walked over to the tree and leaped onto a branch. Her companion followed her.

“They never are, but they’re always as stupid as I think they are. It’s weird.” 

“I guess that’s just the way life is. So, we’re going to stay together in there, right?”

“What’s the matter, scared of getting lost?” Shego teased, even though she knew it was best for them to stick together just in case they did get lost.

Kim rolled her eyes as they continued climbing the tree. They had to jump several feet into the air after they got to the top of the tree to reach the wall protecting the castle, but they did so with great ease. They landed on top of the wall to get a look around the inside part of the castle. They got as good an idea as they were going to get from the wall view, but it certainly did not mean they might not get lost in the castle. With luck, they had the element of surprise on their side and would have it through out the assault.

They hopped down into the castle and started their game as they caught the attention of guards. Kim pulled her sword while Shego ignited her hands. They went at the huge monkeys as if they did not have a care in the world. 

“Four,” Kim said as they finished with the guards and moved on.

“Five,” Shego replied with a smile. 

“That was only the beginning. We still have a long way to go,” the redhead stated. 

The older warrior continued to smile. She had no plans to lose to Kim ever again, even if it was only a game. Whenever she was with someone, she was used to being the protector and she did not really know how to be anything else. She was not sure if she wanted to be anything else. She wanted to protect Kim and, to do that, she had to prove she was stronger than Kim, which meant she could not lose to the samurai anymore. 

They pressed on through the castle, meeting with plenty of guards and they all seemed to be those giant monkeys. There was not a human samurai or shinobi in the place judging from their encounters. They wondered how that worked when the lord had to go to Edo with his whole household. Did they take the primates with them into Edo? Did the Shogun really allow that if he did? Why would anyone what spend his time around such smelly creatures anyway?

“Twenty-seven,” Kim called out as she dropped a couple more guards. 

“Thirty-two,” Shego practically bragged.

“Damn it,” Kim cursed under her breath.

They turned their attention back to the watchers, which were still coming. They were then surprised as some smaller fighters joined in. The newcomers were no more than three feet tall and they were all wearing masks and dressed totally in black, but they had a distinct feature that the other guards lacked. The newcomers had tails. 

“Oh, come on, more monkeys? This is just nasty,” Shego complained as she punched one of the smaller monkeys out of the air; it had been jumping at her. The small ones had an odor just as bad as the big ones. She hoped the smell did not cling to things or she was just going to have burn her clothing the first chance that she got.

“Do these count, too?” Kim asked curiously, referring to the smaller monkey guards. 

“Sure why not? One dirty, stinky monkey is just as good as another,” Shego replied.

The duo quickly found out that the smaller monkeys were trained in ninjutsu. They could not believe what was going on. It was beyond bizarre because they were used to bizarre, but monkeys using martial arts was pretty much it, especially since they did better work than the ladies had seen some humans do. They pressed on through the fighting, praying they did not get some kind of disease from the primates as they dropped the furry creatures. 

They had to backtrack a few times as they ran down dead-end corridors. They narrowly escaped having boiled oils poured on them a few times. They were rather glad the lord had not included arrow traps in the makeup of the castle. They made it to the inner workings of the palace, breathing a little hard and suffering some minor cuts, mostly from blades thankfully.

“What do you got?” Kim asked in breath.

“Um… sixty-two,” Shego answered while pulling a shuriken out of her shoulder. The next small monkey she saw, she was going to kick the little fur-ball with all of her might just to get back at the one that actually caught her with a throwing star. 

“Damn it. Sixty-one.” Kim could not believe that she was still losing. She had felt so sure she could and would win the silly competition, but there was still time. She was just going to have to pull a come-from-behind, upset victory because not only did she want to win, but she would like to try that whole “having her way” with Shego thing, even if she had no idea where she would start.

Shego laughed a little bit. It felt good to be winning. She did not mind that Kim was keeping up with her. In fact, she liked that, but she still wanted to win, especially since it meant having her way with the little redhead the next time they were alone. She did not have too much time to revel in the fact that she was winning, though because more monkeys, large and small, came from all directions now that they were in main chambers of the castle.

They continued on, searching rooms and fighting primates looking for lord of the castle. By the time that they stumbled on to him, they were sporting some more cuts and bruises. They made an entrance worth remembering thanks to Shego, who did not do it on purpose. A monkey had tried to ambush her from the ceiling as they came to the room and she grabbed it by the tail. She spun it around and flung it through the door, putting a monkey-shaped hole in the opening. They then just tore through the door instead of opening it. 

The duo then turned their attention to the two occupants of the room. There was a man that was dressed in all black like the smaller monkeys they fought and a rather large woman, who was pouring tea. The man had his head down with his legs folded underneath him, not bothering to acknowledge his guests. The woman, who was dressed in an elegant-looking silk kimono, did grace them with a look, but did not seem too interested in them either. 

“Friske-sama?” Kim asked the name just to be sure that it was him.

“Who wants to know?” the man replied, still not bothering to at least look in their direction.

“The fucking man in the moon,” Shego answered, rolling her eyes. “We want to know. The people that just beat up your whole very gross monkey armory,” she stated. 

“What? You beat up all of our cutesy little monkeys?” the woman asked, almost whined really. They were certainly interesting now, the duo noted.

“I’ll handle this, Amy-san,” the man stated while holding up his hand to signal that she should stop. 

“Not really. Okay, Princess, tally up,” Shego said.

“Eighty-three,” Kim answered. 

Shego froze for a second and held a look of dread in her emerald eyes. She had tied with Kim. It was unacceptable in her opinion. How could she protect someone that was damn near her equal? She had wondered what made men think they were worthy of her princess, but now, she dared to wonder what made her worthy of Kim. What could she offer Kim that made her worth keeping around?

“Shego?” Kim said when her companion did not automatically counter her number.

“Eighty-four,” Shego replied. 

Kim went rigid. She had lost? But, she _never_ lost. Well, at least she had lost fair and square and to Shego. She just hoped Shego did not look down on her because of that. She had already been kidnapped in Shego’s company and she thought that made her seem weak, so she did not want anything else to go awry for her.

“I guess he’s all yours then,” the olive-eyed samurai yielded the battle to Shego. 

“Yeah, I guess he is,” Shego replied, already feeling the sting of guilt biting at her guts for having lied to her companion. At least she could make up for it. She could show how powerful she was and Kim would want continue to want her around. She could prove herself worthy of her little kitsune.

“What do you want?” the lord asked as Shego stepped forward. 

“We don’t like what you’re doing down in the village, so we figure we’d tell you to stop. Maybe if you scream loud enough when I’m kicking your ass, I’ll even consider asking politely,” the pale woman answered.

“You can’t talk to my cuddly-wuddly hubby like that,” Amy declared, offended for the lord it seemed.

“Cuddly-wuddly hubby?” Kim echoed with her eyebrows bent.

Shego would not even let the words leave her mouth, even though she was just as confused as Kim. Neither of them could believe that a grown woman had allowed those words to leave her mouth of her own freewill and was serious about them. They needed to get out of this castle before it cost them any more brain cells, they decided. 

“It was an arranged marriage,” the daimyo huffed in his defense. 

“I’ll bet,” Shego muttered. She did not see anyone marrying Amy voluntarily if she was using words like “cuddly-wuddly” and she was over the age of three. “Look, I’ve already learned more about you than I needed to know. Stand up and fight me, so we can all get back to our lives,” the emerald-eyed warrior demanded. 

“You’re standing up for those worthless peasants?” the lord inquired as if he could not believe it. “The only thing those shiftless humans are good for are feeding my armies.”

“I’m still getting way too much information from you. Stand up and fight, so I can the hell out of here,” Shego said impatiently. She had another ill-gotten prize to collect on and she would also like to get a meal before the night was through… and before the guilt ate her alive.

“Those people aren’t worthless, you know. And you don’t have any right to treat them like your own personal slaves,” Kim argued.

“They are my slaves,” he stated and he finally climbed to his feet. 

The duo’s faces both twisted in disgust and horror as they saw the lord’s hands and feet as he stood before them. The guy had monkey attachments on his limbs. The bizarre meter officially shattered as soon as they saw that. This beat Dementor and his killer plants by miles.

“Let me guess, you’re the monkey king,” Shego commented.

“I will be,” he declared.

“You know what, I don’t even want to know anymore. You’re using those people down there for your own demented monkey army and that’s enough to piss me off,” Shego declared as she got into her fighting stance. 

Shego really just wanted to hurry up and take the guy down before that gnawing sensation wrapping its way around her guts got to her and forced her to confess what she had done to make the pain go away right then and there. She doubted a confession in the middle of a fight would be a good thing. Hell, it might not even be appropriate, not that she cared about anything being appropriate. Part of her feared Kim would not forgive her, would not trust her again. _Why did I lie about something so stupid?_

“You’re a fool to take on the great Monkey Fist,” he informed her, holding up his monkey fist. 

The lord ran at Shego before she could comment how his name was just as terrible as what he had done to himself. She blocked his attack and forced him away, but he was right back at her. He came at her with powerful hand moves, but grabbed her with his foot and flung her across the room. Shego was not sure if she was more mortified by the fact that she had just been thrown by a monkey foot or the fact that Kim had witnessed the act.

Before Shego could make a decision on what should embarrass her more, Monkey Fist was in her face again. He tried to come down on her with a double-fisted punch, but she put her arms up to block it. She forced him back and climbed to her feet. She put her hands back up into her fighting stance. 

“So, you actually mean business,” Monkey Fist commented. He was stunned by her skill, but not very impressed.

“I think I do. So, let’s skip the conversation and get right to it,” Shego replied and she went at him.

The pale woman came in with her usual claw moves, which Monkey Fist thought he could guard against by putting his forearms up. He learned quickly he would need another strategy as she tore through his kimono sleeves. He backed away from her when he noticed his clothing was shredded and he wondered what kind of weapon she used. 

Monkey Fist inspected Shego’s hands to see she was not holding any kind of blade. Her hands were open and positioned like striking cat. How had she cut him then? He tried for a closer look at her hands and took note of her nails. They looked rather sharp, but how could regular nails go through his clothing with as much ease as blade would have? He was not sure, but he knew he did not want to be in close quarter combat with her without a weapon of his own.

Monkey Fist pulled a sword he had on his hip and went at Shego again. She swiftly dodged the blade and looked for openings to counter his onslaught. Instead of waiting, she created her own opening. She ignited her hands and cut through his sword. Gasping, he looked on in horror.

“How about you surrender now?” Shego suggested in an arrogant tone with a smirk to match. 

“To hell with this,” the monkey-man declared and he turned to run out of the room. 

Kim actually stepped out of his way for him to leave and Shego chased after him. Amy cried out for her husband and stood up, showing she planned to go after him and maybe even help him. Kim drew her katana and held it in front of Amy. 

“You should stay and keep me company while our friends settle this matter,” Kim commented with a sickeningly sweet smile, as if she was not threatening the woman.

“Monty-kun!” Amy hollered, hoping her husband heard.

Monkey Fist could hear his wife, but he was not paying her any mind. He was more concerned with getting the drop on the she-demon that chased him. He reached into his shirt and pulled out some shuriken, which he let loose in the narrow hallway. Shego dodged them and kept coming.

When he saw the shuriken were not helping, he went for another attack. He stopped, turned around, jumped onto the wall, and came at Shego with a kick. Shego hardly had time to react to the sudden assault. She backed up and he missed her, but now she was slightly off balance.

Monkey Fist went at her while he had the chance. He continued to kick at her. She almost fell back, but she stayed on her feet and caught his leg. She shoved him through the wall. As he was about to hit the floor, he threw some shuriken to keep Shego at bay. While she avoided those, he jumped up.

Shego went at him as he stood up. He pulled out a staff to fend her off. She dodged the weapon until he hit the wall with it by accident. She cut through it with ease and then kicked Monkey Fist in the chest. He coughed as the powerful blow landed, but that was only the beginning. She kept going with her kicks until he was up against the wall. He caught her leg, hoping that would end things. But, Shego just went in with punches. 

Monkey Fist let go of Shego’s leg and tried to catch her hands. She was not in the mood for the fight to go any further. She put her right hand to his neck while holding him with her left. He looked down and then remembered she had talons on her hands and the power to produce fire. She could probably decapitate him if she felt like it, he thought, and he was quite right. He dropped his hands.

“Good decision,” she stated.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Shego feels guilty over lying to win the bet. The pair goes into yet another town and find themselves in trouble, yet again. They eat a meal they can’t afford. 

-8-8-8-8-

1: When Shego talks about them being on the road when every daimyo is not in Edo, she’s talking about a tradition started in the Tokugawa era where daimyo would spend a year in Edo and then they would return to their lands for a year and go back and forth. It was a system to make sure that the daimyo did not have enough money or power to rise up against the shogun.


	28. Eat and Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

28: Eat and Run

Kim held Amy at bay with her sword. She did not want the large woman to interfere with Shego’s fight Amy’s husband, who called himself Monkey Fist… on purpose. Amy gnawed her bottom lip and fidgeted as she stared off in the direction their significant others disappeared in. Kim could understand her anxiety. What was going on between their lovers? Who won their battle? They wished the two fighters had stayed in the same room with them in order for them to know what was going on. 

The redheaded samurai saw enough of the battle when they were in the room to figure her lover was taking care of Monkey Fist. The lord seemed to practice the same style of martial arts as Ron and though he looked more precise than Ron, Kim was sure she had seen Ron use the style much better. Hell, she had seen Yori use the style much better and Yori was not even a master at it like Ron was. She shook the thoughts away because she was thinking of her friends. She did not want to think about them because of where they currently were.

“Hey, Princess, let’s get out of here,” Shego said as she walked by the room that she had left Kim was standing in.

“You got him?” Kim asked, even though she had no doubt her companion had him.

“Yeah, I got him. You can get her and we can get out of here.”

Kim nodded and she quickly scanned the room for something to use to bind Amy’s arms. She tied the large woman up with some disregarded cloth. Amy did not put up any resistance, just pleading with them to not hurt her “Monty-kun.” She then pulled Amy out of the room to catch up with her companion. She got to see that Shego had worked on Monkey Fist rather well and had him tied up tightly to make sure he did not get away, even though it did not look like he would get far if he did make a run for it.

“What did you do to my Monty-wanty?” Amy cried when she caught sight of her battered husband.

“Something I’ll do to you, too, if you don’t shut up,” Shego replied in a rather serious tone.

“Meanie!” Amy hollered, as if that was supposed to hurt Shego’s feelings.

Shego rolled her eyes. She just wanted to get them out of there. She did not want to deal with their madness and the guilt that devoured her insides. She could not believe that one lie had so quickly and easily chewed through her. All she wanted to do was prove herself and she had done that, but she was still feeling like her intestines were being shredded like chopped vegetables.

The duo walked the noble couple down to the village and turned them over to the oppressed villagers, who cheered the female duo on for their actions. The people were not too sure what they were going to do with their defeated lord, but they were happy he was no longer reigning over them for the moment. They were not too sure about the monkey guards either since many of them were still around, but for the moment, everything was fine and that was what mattered.

There was a mild celebration thrown in the ladies’ honor, which was fine by Shego. The pale woman drank to her heart’s content, hoping it would help ease her guilt. Kim tried to keep an eye on her companion because she did not want Shego to get drunk again. The redhead also made sure to eat as much as was offered to her. It was a little tricky to keep an eye on Shego while stuffing her face with all sorts of great foods.

Kim and Shego were also provided with their own hut for the night as a further show of appreciation. They retired there when the festivities died down. They curled up together on a couple of tatami mats and Kim covered them both with a blanket, even though Shego was undoubtedly going to get overheated. Shego had explained to the redhead that she easily got hot a while back when trying to explain her powers to Kim more precisely.

“Hey, Princess,” Shego whispered in a slur. Oh yeah, she was pleasantly drunk; well, it was pleasant in her opinion.

“Shego, just go to sleep. You’re drunk again,” Kim stated soundly, but somewhat softly. It seemed she had not kept the best eye on her cohort, she silently scolded herself. Well, with luck, her lover would sleep it off, or so she hoped. 

“I’m not drunk,” the older warrior argued. “I’m just… enlightened.” She snickered a bit.

“Yeah, you are. So, just go to sleep. We can talk in the morning.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it in the morning,” Shego huffed in a low tone.

“It’s all right. We’ll talk about whatever you want in the morning. Just go to sleep,” the samurai gently commanded her companion, caressing Shego’s hip with the hope it would soothe her to sleep.

Shego tried to argue, but her mouth was not obeying too well. She fell asleep less than a minute after trying to debate with Kim and not being able to get out a decent word. Kim rested her head against Shego’s shoulder and fell asleep, too.

When Kim woke up in the morning, she found she was the only one wrapped in the blanket, which meant that sometime during the night, Shego had gotten too hot. Shego was still asleep, holding Kim close to her. The younger female sighed contently and just stayed cuddled up with her companion. She hoped no one entered the hut to for any reason or they would have to explain exactly why they snuggled up together in a little more than a “friendly manner.” Well, at least, for once they were not nude while sleeping in a room. 

“Princess,” Shego muttered, seemingly talking in her sleep. She turned her head, facing a wall in the dark. It was morning, but the sun had yet to make its presence known to the world. The outside was mostly quiet; it seemed that it was too early for farmers to even be awake. She kept her eyes closed, though.

Kim thought her lover was talking in her sleep, but answered anyway, just in case. “Hmm?” 

“I’m sorry,” Shego whispered the apology. She was awake for the most part, as she had been for about two hours now. She had woken up and saw her trusting little kitsune lying so peacefully against her and all she could do was think about how she had lied to the younger warrior. It had been impossible for her to sleep after that.

“You’re sorry?” Kim said in a bewildered tone. “What are you sorry for, tenshi?” she asked quietly. It seemed like Shego was still somewhat sleeping to her, so she did not want to talk too loudly.

“I lied to you, kitsune,” Shego confessed. She knew what she was saying, even though she sounded half-asleep. She just could not take the guilt that tore at her insides. She felt so horrible about it, more horrible than she had ever felt from lying. 

“You lied to me?” Kim’s heart sank. She feared the worse. Had Shego lied about their time together? Did Shego really not like her and was just using her?

“I lied yesterday. I didn’t have eighty-four. I only had eighty-three, like you,” Shego stated, now facing the blackened ceiling of their temporary living space.

Kim breathed a sigh of relief. Shego was talking about their little competition when they were battling the monkey guards in Monkey Fist’s castle. Kim was now puzzled, though. Why would Shego lie about something so silly? 

“Tenshi, why would you lie about that?” Kim inquired. She supposed she felt a little better knowing it had been a lie. She had not actually lost yesterday if that was the case. She was unaccustomed to losing and she did not like it much, even if it was to Shego. Of course, she did not tie either, but that was better than losing. 

“I hate to lose,” Shego answered as if that was the most logical thing to say.

“Well, so do I, but it was just a little game.” 

Shego shook her head and opened her eyes. She might as well brave looking at the teen, she told herself. She had gotten over the really hard part anyway, namely apologizing. She usually did not apologize for anything, even if she was wrong. It just was not something that she did.

She stared into Kim’s olive eyes, which she could make out in the dark, and asked herself how could she lie to this adorable creature? Because she wanted to be worthwhile to the young woman, she reminded herself. She wanted to continue to be wanted and desired. It seemed so pathetic, she told herself, but she did not care. Whenever Kim was involved, the usual things that bugged her just did not matter anymore. 

“Princess, I want to be able to protect you,” Shego said and that seemed to come out of the blue to her companion.

“I’m pretty sure you can if I can’t do it for some reason,” Kim pointed out, even though she did not think there would be a time she could not protect herself. 

Shego sighed and shook her head. “I want to be able to give you something you don’t have and what I usually offer is protection. You can protect yourself, though. I figured if I could just prove to you that I was stronger than you, you’d be able to understand that I could protect you,” she explained.

Kim looked confused for a second and then she smiled softly. She reached up and caressed Shego’s cheek before leaning in for a tender kiss. Shego was now the one who was bewildered. 

“You do give me something and if you want to, you can still protect me. It’s nice to have backup I can trust. But, what you give me is more important than protection,” the redhead informed Shego in a gentle tone.

“What’s that?” the emerald-eyed female inquired. 

“This feeling,” Kim answered while placing her hand on her own chest. She was not sure what the feeling was, but she knew it coursed through her whole body as if it was her blood and it seemed to fill her whole body out as if it was muscle. It made her feel like she could walk on clouds and she wanted it to remain there always. It was so wonderfully delightful and she could only thank Shego for it.

Shego understood what Kim was talking about. She was very aware of the feeling. She thought of it more as water flowing through her body along with vapor wafting through her. It felt like heaven was in her system. Did she give that feeling to Kim?

“Do I really make you feel that good?” Shego inquired.

“You make me feel… special,” Kim answered with a smile. She did not know how else to put it. She just felt special while she was with the raven-haired warrior. 

“You are special.”

“See, things like that make me feel like we were placed here just for each other, to be together. So, you really don’t have to do anything more than be yourself for me. If you want to take on the bad guy, all you have to do is say so. You don’t have to lie or try to impress me,” Kim promised. 

“I know,” Shego replied. She knew that, but she still felt like she had to impress Kim. She wanted Kim to always desire her as she did, but she guessed if she gave Kim the same feeling the little fox gave her, then it was likely that Kim would never leave her. 

Kim did not say anything else. She just leaned over and kissed Shego on the lips. Shego accepted the kiss and returned it with just as much zeal. They would have continued on, but they heard movement outside and figured that the village was waking up. They decided to get up and get moving, especially since birds started to come out. It was would seem that morning was upon them and it was time to move on.

The two hailed heroes were given food for the road when they announced they were going to be on their way. They were slightly curious about what the villagers would do with Monkey Fist and his wife Amy. The villagers still did not seem too clear what they wanted to do with the greedy lord. Kim offered to contact some authorities to take the daimyo off their hands, even though she was not sure what she could say to get the authorities to arrest the daimyo.

“Leave this one to me. When we get to Edo, I’ll have some people come back here for Monkey-boy,” Shego stated. 

“Ah, I knew you cared,” Kim teased her companion. 

“I don’t. I just don’t want that annoying monkey to get away after I went through the trouble to kick his ass,” the pale woman argued.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kim said with a smirk.

“Shut up. Let’s go.” Shego playfully shoved her companion in the direction that they were going to walk in.

Kim grinned and she walked off. Shego followed behind her for a moment and then went to her side. The redheaded warrior turned around to wave farewell to the villagers for a few seconds before Shego yanked her to continue going. They moved on. 

“You do know it’s all right for you to admit you don’t mind helping,” Kim commented with bright smile.

“I don’t mind it, but I don’t really like it. It’s annoying,” Shego replied, frowning just to counter her companion’s cheerfulness. 

“But, it makes you look so sexy,” Kim teased her comrade. Well, it was meant as a taunt, but she blushed so deeply that it made her words ring way too true. 

“Just like that blush with you,” Shego remarked while throwing her arm around Kim’s waist. The redhead flushed even more. Shego laughed a bit and leaned down, nuzzling her face in Kim’s neck.

“That tickles,” the samurai giggled. The fact that it tickled was the only thing keeping Kim from blushing an even deeper shade of crimson.

“So what?” Shego replied and then she playfully nibbled at the samurai’s neck. Kim laughed a little bit again. Shego did not help as she reached up and caressed the other side of Kim’s neck. 

“Stop. You’re acting like an akuma again. Do you want me to call you akuma-san?” Kim asked with a laugh. She was not sure if she wanted to get away from the super-powered woman or if she wanted to stay close to her companion.

“It’s too late,” Shego answered, remaining where she was. She had a lot of fun with Kim.

The redhead continued giggling. She pulled away, but Shego just pulled her back. Kim struggled, but Shego held steadily. They went on their journey in that fashion, not thinking that they looked rather silly. It was not like anyone was going to see, or so they hoped anyway.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Are you sure we don’t have any more food?” Shego inquired as she and Kim hiked up a path on what they guessed was a never-ending mountain. It seemed like the rocky hill went on forever. It did not help matters that the hill was steep and there was nothing to hold on to if one of them slipped down.

“Yes, we’re out of food. Just like yesterday,” Kim replied.

“How the hell have we not seen any animals at all?” Shego wondered out loud. They had been out of food for three days and they had not seen any wild animals to catch and eat. They passed a stream a day ago, but no fish were in the water. Since when did fish not live in water?

“Where’s the top of this thing?” Kim wondered aloud. She stared up the mound and it just seemed to still be going up. Where they climbing a mountain to the heavens?

They continued moving up the mountain and finally hit the top a couple of hours later. They then looked down; crap, they still had nothing but rocky path going all the way down. They had been hoping for a town or a village. They wanted something with some food. Hell, even a forest would have done if it meant wildlife. But, no, all they had was barren mountainside to accompany them down the path. 

They pressed on, down the path and through the dark of night. By the morning, they were both silently praying for anything that was populated by people who had food. They were starting to think they needed to get back on the main highway, even if it meant they were going to have to deal with inspection posts. Forget the fact that Kim did not do well with the inspectors and Shego would have had to look for a way around the post. They just would have access to restaurants if they were on the main highway, which would be a big plus at the moment. 

And then, they caught sight of a town in the distance. They looked at each other and smiled. They picked up their pace down the rocky path and made their way into the town, which looked like an average town, but they were not paying much attention to that. They went right into the first restaurant they came across and began ordering pretty much everything they could.

In their rush, the ladies failed to notice they had caught the attention of a male trio that they ran by on their way to the restaurant. The trio could not believe their eyes and had to go make sure that they had seen right, so they followed the pair to the restaurant. They knew they had to be quiet about things, but they had to make sure they had seen correctly. And there she was, stuffing her face with a beef bowl. 

“Demond-senpai (1), can you believe how lucky we are?” the brunette of the trio commented. They were all large, muscular men of similar builds and dressed in the same outfits. They wore blue yukatas with wooden geta. 

“We’re not lucky yet. We have to make sure she’s not here for something official and wait for her to be alone,” the dark-skinned, bald one replied. He happened to be the leader of the group.

“Right,” the other two concurred. 

The trio watched the female pair for a moment longer and then they walked off. Kim and Shego continued to stuff their faces, piling empty dish on top of empty dish. They were too busy digging in to even notice they had been being watched. They had their fill and then got the bill.

“Hmm…” Shego muttered while going into her pockets.

“Hmm…” Kim echoed while going into her pockets. 

“I’m broke!” both ladies realized simultaneously while looking at each other. And then it seemed to hit them that they shared those facts a little too loudly. They turned to their waiter and laughed nervously.

“What do we do now?” Kim asked her companion. She was trying to whisper the question, but not seem too suspicious at the same time. It was not working out well. 

“I’ve got an idea,” Shego replied with her usual confidence. 

“One that doesn’t involve us running out of here right now,” Kim stated with a deadpan expression. 

Shego sighed. “Picky, picky, picky. We could’ve burned this geek. Fine, give me a second to think about this,” she replied and then she glanced over at the waiter. “And stop looking at me like you’re going to do something,” she barked at him. 

The waiter actually yelped because of her tone. He scurried away, returning to the back of the restaurant. As soon as Shego got an idea, the waiter returned with a large, blond man, who was wielding a kitchen knife. He did not look too friendly either. 

“Ned tells me you two are trying to skip out on the bill,” the large man commented. He also did not sound too friendly. 

“We’d never do a thing like that,” Shego replied with a good-natured grin. “We have no idea where Ned-kun would get an idea like that,” she said in sweet tone.

“Then pay up,” the huge man ordered. 

“We would love nothing more than to that… um, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Shego said.

“Lars,” he answered. 

“Right, Lars-san, we would love nothing more than to pay the bill,” Shego said as she stood up. 

She motioned for Kim to follow her lead, which the redhead did, even though she had no idea as to what was going on. Shego leaned over onto Lars, which made Kim frown a little bit. The samurai was not sure what was going on, but she now was certain she did not like it.

“Unfortunately, Lars-sama, we don’t have the money right now,” Shego continued on, using the honorific “sama” to hopefully help the situation. He did not seem to like the admission they did not have the money at that moment, or so his deep scowl implied. “But, we can easily get it and until we do, we’ll leave you with some collateral,” she finished. 

Lars craned an eyebrow, curious as to what she meant by “collateral.” Kim was interested too since her companion leaned so close to the blond man. Shego then smiled in a suggestive manner, which did not make Kim feel any more at ease with what was going on. And the next thing she knew, Shego yanked her swords out of her obi and handed them to Lars.

“Hey!” Kim barked in protest about her weapons being liberated from their proper place at her hip. 

“You keep these,” Shego said to the blond while handing over her own sword, too. “And we’ll be back in a couple of hours with the money and you can give us back the swords,” she informed him.

Lars seemed confused by the exchange. He obviously had been thinking of something else and by the time he realized what happened, Shego dragged an objecting Kim out of the restaurant. Lars hollered after them, but Shego did not stop. The blond ran to the door, but the females were gone. 

“Shego, how could you just give up my swords like that?” Kim demanded, glaring at her lover. She was still trying to pull away from the emerald-eyed warrior, hoping to get back to the eatery to take her weapons back.

“Calm down. We’ll have them back in about an hour,” Shego tried to assure her unruly lover. 

“But, I can’t let The Blade of a Hundred Sorrows out of my sight. Not to mention, my swords do contain my soul. You can’t just let any random restaurant owner have the representation of my soul like that!” Kim objected.

“Calm down, Princess. We’ll get them back in about an hour. Don’t worry,” Shego stated soundly. It was almost believable.

“What do you have in mind?” the younger warrior asked with just a little suspicion in her voice.

“I’ll tell you in a moment,” Shego replied as she looked around for a non-populated area. She did not miss the distrust in her lover’s voice, but she had to admit, at least to herself, Kim needed to be suspicious.

-8-8-8-8-

The male trio could not believe their luck. She had actually made things so easy for them, they all thought. A couple of years of trying and they were pretty sure that things would never get any easier than they were at the moment. They made their move while they had the chance. They stole Kim’s swords from a resting place against the wall in the back of the restaurant. The idiot Lars was none the wiser.

“Demond-senpai, that was unbelievable,” the brunette male commented, almost in a shaky tone. He was just totally incredulous that Kim would make things so simple and she would let her swords out of her sight for more than five seconds. Something had to be wrong.

“Yeah, it was too easy, Demond-senpai,” the redhead agreed with his teammate. He also sounded rather suspicious about the situations. They knew that girl did not let her swords out of her grip most of the time, so out of her care was just unheard of. It was almost as if it was a trap of some kind, not that she was one to setup traps. Something still seemed off.

“Of course it was easy because that troublesome fox demon wasn’t there to get in our way,” the bald leader pointed out. 

The other two nodded to yield that point. Kim was not around to practically bite their heads off about her swords. Also Director-sama was not around to holler at them about “bothering” Kim. Yeah, they worked under Director-sama as elite samurai, named Team Impossible. They had always had an interest in Kim’s swords, especially the one that did not match. 

The trio had always been curious about the sword in the ivory-colored scabbard and why Kim never allowed anyone to touch it. They had heard tales about when Kim’s grandmother used to carry the katana and how she never used it either. Older samurai and family members had told them the sword had magical properties and could bring the country to its knees, but no one was ever too sure about what the magic was about or how the sword was so powerful.

It was assumed that the sword somehow gave its possessor god-like strength. It was a good way to explain why Kim was so good, even though she was a short, skinny girl. It was said that her grandmother had the same build when she was younger, yet she also had incredible power. Supposedly, any Possible who held the sword had extraordinary strength and ability. Now, they had it. They had all of that power.

“Here, Crash-san, you can have this one for right now,” Demond Dash, the leader of the trio, said while handing over the katana that was in the red scabbard. He had no interest in that sword, believing his own long sword was vastly superior to any normal blade. 

“Arigato, senpai,” Crashton Crash replied. He could use a good sword to ruin with his extreme training where he cut through solid stone and some metals. He went through a lot of weapons and enjoyed it when he got ones for free to totally ruin. A Possible blade could probably take a lot of punishment, though.

“Do you want the wakazashi, Burn-san?” the bald warrior asked his redheaded subordinate.

“Sure, why not?” Berman Burn replied, taking the short sword. He figured he could practice with the wakazashi because, like his teammate Crash, Burn went through plenty of weapons too in his training. There was also the chance that there might be something special about the short sword, like the sword in the white casing. Maybe all of that little fox’s weapons had magical properties. 

They all inspected their new weapons. First, they looked at the scabbards. The white saya was decorated with small dragonflies down the length of it, which Dash thought was odd for some reason. There was some writing going down the length of the underside, but it was too small for him to read; it was a sealing spell that had been placed on there long ago with a hope that it would control the problems with the sword. The Possible family crest was close to the bottom and could be found on both sides of the case.

The scarlet sheathes were not too highly ornate. There was a strange blue symbol at the top that they thought looked suspiciously like the silhouettes of foxes and from the tails there were some thin blue veins that ran down the length of the sheathes, creating leaf designs when the lines intersected. On the bottom of those cases was also the Possible family crest. They then unsheathed the blades. 

“Whoa, this is nice work,” Crash commented in an amazed tone as he looked at the weapon. He did not expect to see such a fine blade carried by the redheaded samurai. It was a better blade than his own, which he would never admit aloud.

“Seriously, way better than my short sword,” Burn agreed, sounding equally awed by his stolen weapon. “Hell, I’m keeping this.”

“Yeah,” Crash concurred. He would rather use Kim’s katana in battle rather than break it now that he saw what it looked like. He had never seen such masterful work on a sword. Who would give such a beautiful weapon to a scrawny kid like Kim?

Their leader unsheathed the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows and stared at it as if the sword mesmerized him. There seemed to be movement in the metal. It was the strangest thing, as if clouds roamed the sword. He could not turn away from it. His two teammates failed to notice his fascination with the cursed weapon because they were too busy admiring their own new swords. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Okay, kitsune,” Shego said as they turned into an empty alleyway that had a dead-end, which meant that no one could take them by surprise. Shego stood in front of her companion not only to block the view of anyone that walked by, but to also make sure Kim did not run. She had no doubt her little princess might take off once she started going through the list of things the redhead needed to give her for the plan to swing into motion. 

“Okay, what?” Kim asked with a slight frown. She was obviously still pissed about her swords.

“Give me your mask, your zori, and your hakama,” Shego replied in a normal tone and her companion was almost certain she had not heard right. 

“My what, what, and what?” Kim practically shouted. Okay, it finally happened. Shego had gone completely insane. 

“Your mask, your zori, and your hakama,” Shego repeated, in the same tone no less.

“What for?” the redhead asked while putting her hands onto her pants to make sure that those stayed in place. 

“Look, do you want your swords back?” Shego countered.

“I do,” Kim answered, emphasizing that point with a nod of her head.

“Then give me the mask, the zori, and the hakama.”

“And how will that get my swords back?” Kim inquired with baffled look on her face and she made sure not to let go of her obi in case Shego tried to just take her clothing from her. 

“Trust me,” Shego replied.

“Trust you, the woman who just handed my soul away to a big monkey when we couldn’t run out on lunch?” Kim pointed out. 

Rolling her eyes, Shego sucked her teeth. “It’s not that serious. Just trust me, Princess.”

Kim narrowed her gaze at Shego. “Not that serious? My swords are not that serious?” 

“Okay, it is that serious, but if you just trust me, we’ll have them back in an hour!”

“And what about my clothes?” 

“I’m going to give them back, of course. We just need to show you off a little bit and make you look less crazy, which is why I want the mask,” the super-powered warrior explained. 

“And my zori?” Kim inquired. What was the point in taking her footwear?

“You’ll look poor and less likely to cause trouble,” Shego explained.

“Why?” the younger female begged to know. She just did not understand where her companion was going with everything.

“The less you know about it right now, the better. So, just give me the mask, zori, and hakama.”

Kim turned her mouth up to show her dislike of this whole thing, but she did not have much else in the way of choices. She needed her swords back, especially the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. She was not sure how long it would take that sword to possess someone close by, but she had no desire to find out. She had promised to keep the sword safe and she always kept her word. 

Kim sighed as she pulled off her fox mask, which she had been wearing backwards as that was now her style. She handed it to her lover. She then leaned down and pulled off her zori. She handed both sandals to Shego. She then hesitated on untying her obi to remove her hakama.

“Come on,” Shego urged the teen.

“I don’t like this,” Kim stated. The instructions for the plan that she was not being told about were just bizarre, but she really did need her swords back. The question now was whether her swords were worth the dignity of not having on pants outside? 

“No, really? I hadn’t noticed,” Shego scoffed. “Look, Princess, I don’t like it either. You think I want people looking at you? I don’t, but you want your swords back and to do that, we have to pay the check.” 

“Fine,” Kim sighed and she slowly untied her obi. She did not know what the plan was, but it was the only plan that they had. They needed to do something as soon as possible and since Shego was the only one with an idea so far, she figured she was going to go along with it. Besides, Shego would not steer her in harm’s way or something like that… right?

Shego sighed, too, and uncomfortably averted her eyes. She felt somewhat ashamed of her plan, but she knew that nothing would go wrong. Her girl was powerful and would not allow anything to happen to herself. It would all be fine.

“What now?” Kim asked as she tied her obi back around herself to secure her kimono closed. She carefully folded her hakama and handed them to Shego.

“Follow me,” Shego replied as she put her hat on over her head and forced herself not look at Kim’s lovely legs. 

The samurai was even more curious of everything now that Shego donned her hat, which let Kim know Shego planned to imitate a man again. Shego took off like a shot with her companion trailing her with ease. They took to the rooftops for a while and then came down into the street. As they landed Kim balked at what she saw, gathering easily where they were.

“Shego, really what’s the plan here?” Kim inquired, now slightly nervous and bordering on outraged because she noticed several buildings had women being advertised in the front windows. They were in the red-light district of the town. 

“Just make sure you get away after I turn you loose. If I have to come back here for you, a lot of people aren’t going to like it and you’re going to be mad at me,” Shego replied.

“What?” Kim’s face twisted in confusion. She was also worried and that was just as clear as her bemusement. “Come back and get me?” 

“Yeah, don’t make me have to come back here. Now, come on,” Shego urged her forward.

The redhead followed behind Shego as they entered one of the places with ladies on display in the window. Kim swallowed and looked down, not wanting to see what might go on inside such a building. This made her seem rather unnerved and meek, which was something that Shego wanted. Three men greeted them as soon as they entered the building.

“What business do you have here, ronin?” one of the men inquired in almost a rude manner, like he was in the habit of chasing off business. 

“Could you get the owner? I want to make a sale,” Shego answered and Kim’s eyes were wide as plates from her shock.

“This one behind you then?” he asked, leering at Kim.

“Indeed,” Shego answered in a clipped tone. She did not like the way he eyed her kitsune, but she knew she had to put up with it for the moment.

Kim was so flabbergasted that she could not even speak. She was not beyond outraged. Shego was selling her? To a brothel?! What the hell kind of plan was that!

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: so… Shego sells Kim to a brothel… wonder how that works out. 

-8-8-8-8-

1: -senpai: honorific title for a senior.


	29. Possession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

29: Possession 

“Senpai, are you all right?” Burn asked Dash.

The bald leader of the elite samurai group known as Team Impossible was stuck staring into the naked blade of the sword that he had stolen. It was the unused weapon of Possible Kim. They had stolen all of Kim’s swords from a dusty corner in a restaurant that they had been “abandoned” in. He had taken possession of the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows because of all of the stories about it granting the owner special, god-like powers and he wanted those powers, like most people did when heard rumors about Kim’s idle sword. 

“Yeah, senpai, you okay?” Crash jumped in because their leader had not turned away from the sword since he unsheathed it almost five minutes again.

“I’m fine,” Dash finally answered, shaking his head. He finally turned away from the sword. He could have sworn he saw men in the blade and they beckoned him for something. It was odd, he thought.

“All right. Could I see that sword?” Crash requested. He wondered if the unused sword was as well a quality as the one he held in his hand. He now had possession of Kim’s personal katana. Just from looking at it and holding it, he knew her personal weapon was crafted by one of the best, if not the best, swordsmith in all the land.

“Uh… no,” Dash answered in almost an unsure tone, like he wanted to say something else, but he _had_ to say no instead. “No one can see this sword,” he stated soundly, dropping the sword down. He hid it behind his leg.

“You sound like the brat herself,” Crash commented, thinking their leader was joking.

“Yeah, he does,” Burn agreed with a laugh.

“Okay, well, let me see it, Demond-senpai,” the brunette man requested again while putting his hand out.

“It’s not worth it,” Dash answered as he sheathed the katana and placed it with his own weapons.

His two teammates were confused by the response and his actions, but they decided not to press the issue. Dash himself was not totally sure why he had said or done those things. Usually, he would not mind showing his teammates his things, especially if he was right there and knew he would get the item back. With Kim’s sword, things were different, though. 

Dash did not want the sword out of his possession now that he had it. He just would not feel right without it now. He was almost certain he would sooner give up his right arm than allow anyone else to as much as touch his new weapon. It was his now and his alone. _Mine_.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim was still in complete and utter shock. Shego had ordered her to strip half naked without telling her why, led her into the town’s red light district, and was now making a deal on a price to sell her to a brothel owner. It was supposedly part of some grand scheme to get them money to pay their check at a restaurant in order to get her swords back. Fair to say, Kim was not enjoying the plan so far, especially since the brothel owner continuously eyed her with a lecherous gleam in his eyes.

Shego was not too pleased with the way the dirty old man kept looking at her princess, but it was a necessary offense to put up with. She drove a hard bargain with him because she could see he was anxious to have her little kitsune, but the man was a cheapskate. Eventually, he agreed with her and Kim was thus sold into his den of prostitution. Shego then turned to the newest addition of the house.

“Behave for the nice man,” Shego said in a normal tone for all to hear.

Kim frowned and was ready to seriously just attack Shego and everyone else in the place. The pale woman had not really just sold her, right, Kim asked herself. Well, from the money in her hand, Kim was going to have to go with “yes.” Her companion had just sold her to pay off their restaurant bill. She could not believe her lover would do such a thing to her, especially after saying “trust me.” How the hell could she ever trust Shego again?

The samurai looked into Shego’s eyes with a mix of sorrow and rage. The look seemed to scream “I trusted you and you do this to me!” The older woman tried to ignore the fact the expression was pretty much cutting her in half. She was a bit offended that Kim thought this was the end of the plan, but then again, she could understand the redhead being insulted considering what seemed to be going on. Shego thought she needed to clarify the plan just a little more before she ended up losing her kitsune. 

Shego went next to Kim, leaning in very close to the redhead, and whispered, “I’ll be waiting for you by the restaurant. Try not to kill anyone when you get out of here.” She trusted Kim to take care of herself, which was why she had this crazy idea in the first place. Not to mention, if it did not work, she planned to come back and bust Kim out herself.

Kim was speechless as Shego left her. The redhead then turned her attention to the man she had just been sold to and three other men in his employ. Her stomach churned as she saw the greedy and licentious looks in their eyes. They were about to learn that they had just purchased faulty merchandise. 

“Well, time to sample the goods,” the owner declared.

“Oh, I’ll give you a sample,” Kim replied. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego slowly strolled back to the restaurant that she and Kim owed money to. She was not feeling pleased about what she had done, even though it had just made her a great deal of money and it would be a good scheme to run, if only she did not know Kim would be totally against it. Kim probably felt betrayed and violated by the predicament she had left the teen in. But, it was fast money. 

“And, it’s not like she would’ve gone through with it if I told her my idea and she’s the one who actually wanted to pay for our meal instead of just running out of there,” Shego grumbled to herself.

Still the thought of what she had done weighed on her worse than having a mountain on her shoulders. She cared deeply about Kim and yet, she had just sold her to such a place. She was confident Kim would get away, but it still made her feel dirty to have done such a thing. It did not help matters that she had also given up Kim’s precious swords as collateral for their check at the restaurant. She was swinging and missing a lot that day.

“Even if she doesn’t kill me over the brothel thing, what about her swords? I mean, shit, those were her swords. She’s a samurai and I just gave up her swords. What the hell is wrong with me?” Shego actually slapped herself in the forehead. 

She hoped Kim could forgive her for doing such things. She was only looking to be practical. Surely there was no crime in that, but in her heart and gut, it felt as if she had committed the worst of evils. _Seriously, how the hell could you just sell your princess like that? Who sells a princess?_

“It’s not like I really sold her,” Shego argued with herself.

Kim would get away from the brothel in a hurry, she assured herself, which was why she had sold Kim in the first place. The samurai was able. Kim had defeated her, after all. So, she should not worry herself with silly thoughts like Kim would not get away. Surely, the redhead would be back with her within minutes. 

What she needed to worry about was her lover’s wrath, she reminded herself. The look in Kim’s eyes was enough for her to know that Kim would get away. Kim was going to seek revenge more than likely. Hopefully, she could be reasoned with, Shego silently prayed.

“She’s the reasonable one between the two of us. It should be okay,” Shego said aloud, as if that would make it true. It did not feel true.

Shego arrived at the restaurant after a couple of minutes, but she did not enter. She waited outside, figuring she would go in when Kim returned to her. She did not need to wait long, which she knew would be the case. Her redheaded companion stormed over to her hardly two minutes after she arrived. The expression in her olive eyes a keen mixture of deep offense and anger. If looks could kill, Shego probably would have died in that moment. 

“Kitsune…” Shego gave a nervous smile.

“Don’t you dare!” Kim roared from several feet away.

Kim was beyond insulted that Shego would take her and sell her to a brothel. She was damned samurai first of all! A member of the highly esteemed Possible clan! And Shego had the nerve to sell her into some sleazy den of prostitution as a way to pay for a restaurant bill. It was unacceptable! It was as if Shego thought she had no pride or honor to speak of to do such a thing to her. How could Shego even do such a thing to her? She thought the older warrior cared about her and yet, she had been able to do such a thing. 

“How could you do that!” Kim demanded before she was even in Shego’s face.

“We needed the money,” Shego pointed out with a little shrug, remaining calm with the hope it would help get her lover to settle down, too. The last thing she wanted was to have Kim punch her right in the middle of a public street. 

“So you sell me?” Kim shrieked, throwing her arms out. “Wait until I get my swords back. You’re not going to have to keep your promise because I’m going cut you in half!” the redhead declared with a fire blazing in her eyes. 

“Kitsune,” Shego said with a nervous grin. She was not sure if her lover was being serious or if that was just the fury talking. She was not interested in finding out, though.

“Give me my damn clothes back,” Kim ordered, which Shego did immediately. After all, there was no need to add to the aggravation of the situation by teasing the fuming samurai. Besides, she did not want anyone else checking out her lover anyway. 

The redhead went to a nearby alley and put her hakama back on. She slipped her zori back on her feet. She even put her fox mask back on, wearing it backwards again. She then returned to Shego to give her a piece of her mind. 

“What the hell was that about?” the redhead demanded, glaring hot daggers at Shego.

“Princess,” Shego started in a very gentle tone, hoping it would get her out of trouble. Unfortunately, she did not get the chance to finish her statement.

“Oh, no, don’t try to sweet talk me! Let’s go get my damn swords, so we can get this over with!” Kim commanded and she stumped into the restaurant.

Shego gulped and followed behind the furious teen. It seemed like her lover had been serious about cutting Shego in half. They went to the back of the restaurant for Lars, who was doing some cooking.

“You two again,” Lars commented as he noticed the ladies. “I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come back here.”

“Here’s your money,” Shego said to the blond and she handed him the payment for their bill. “Where’s our swords?” she inquired, holding out her hands. For some reason, the sooner she got the swords, the safer she would feel. Maybe Kim would stop glowering at her like she was telepathically trying to murder her.

“Ned!” Lars called his nerdy waiter. 

“Yes?” Ned replied from the front of the restaurant where he was attempting to wait tables.

“Come and get those swords!” the boss commanded.

“Yes, sir!”

Ned hustled from the front of the business to the back, not wanting to anger his boss by taking too long to perform the ordered task. He went to the corner his boss had stored the ladies’ weapons in. Ned then went to the female duo and handed over one sword. Kim and Shego looked rather baffled by his actions. 

“Where are the other three?” Shego asked with a bit of an attitude. Her saving grace was she was getting the swords back and yet three of them were missing. The three important ones at that. _Oh, god, she’s going to kill me!_  

“Other three? That’s the only one that was there,” Ned answered.

“What do you mean?” Kim screamed and she grabbed Ned by the front of his kimono. She started yanking him back and forth. “Where the hell are my swords?” she demanded, possibly strangling the life out of the poor guy. Of course, this was probably the most action he ever got in his entire life.

“I don’t know!” Ned answered with wide eyes as his face turned a bright red. “Could you get off of me?” he pled. If she kept shaking him, he was scared he might pee on himself and he really did not need to do that in front of his boss, especially not in the kitchen. 

“Princess, let him go!” Shego said and she pulled her companion off of the scrawny boy. She stepped in between the two of them, but Kim still tried to go through her to get to Ned, who was now the source and desired outlet of all of her rage because he had lost the swords in her opinion.

“Where the hell are my swords?” Kim attempted to leap over Shego to get back at the little waiter. 

“Princess, calm the hell down!” Shego ordered, knowing that if her companion did not get a hold of herself at the very least Ned was likely to die. After Ned, it would probably be Lars, and then maybe herself since she had given the swords up in the first place. 

“How can I calm down? They lost my swords! Damn it, those are my swords!” Kim hollered, panting just a little. Her most prized and treasured possessions were gone. She was responsible for those swords, especially the heirloom, which could be out doing damage to someone for all she knew. And then there were her own personal weapons, which did represent and house her soul.

“Calm down, calm down, calm down,” Shego repeated in a low tone almost like a chant. She leaned in close to Kim and pressed her forehead against the distraught teen’s head. She placed her hand on the back of Kim’s head to hold Kim in place and also to comfort the upset warrior. “We’ll find the swords. We’ll find them. I promise,” she whispered. Damn right, she promised; after all, she was the one who gave them up in the first place. She now had a shot at redemption.

Kim had to take a few deep breaths and her heart began to steady its rhythm. She eyed the floor for a moment before staring directly at Shego, who she had only minutes ago been ready to cut in two, but now, she was glad for the support. She was glad for that sincere look in those emerald eyes that pledged to her that they would find those swords. There was no second option as far as Shego was concerned, which Kim could also see in her eyes, so that helped the redhead calm down.

“Where do we even start looking?” Kim’s voice cracked a little. She needed those swords back and she needed them now, especially the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. She did not even want to think of what might be happening if that legend was true.

“We’ll start with asking four eyes and blondie if they saw anything suspicious,” Shego pointed out and she turned her attention to Lars and Ned, sweeping around to face them with a dangerous glint in her eyes. “So, did you two see anything suspicious?” she inquired. 

“We didn’t see anything,” Lars answered soundly. Like he would just let someone steal from him, even if he did not want the swords in the first place. It was the principle of the matter and he would not just allow someone to plunder anything that was his if he could help it.

“Of course,” Shego sighed. It was just her luck that they did not have any clues at all. 

“What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?” Kim was obviously panicking. They did not have clues if those guys did not see anything, which meant she might never get her weapons back. She would never be able to face her family again after losing the Blade of Hundred Sorrows. Beyond being dangerous and a family heirloom, there was the symbolic meaning behind the sword, which showed that the Possible clan would and could do anything to protect its people and land.

“Calm down. Come on. Those swords couldn’t have gotten far. It hasn’t even been an hour yet,” Shego pointed out.

Kim nodded in agreement because she did not have any other choice in the matter. She needed to calm down and focus on the problem at hand rather than being totally alarmed by the entire situation. Shego pulled her out of the restaurant and they began to the hunt for Kim’s swords. Kim was not sure what to do and she began to hyperventilate from her panic after only a few seconds. Shego noticed immediately and put her arm around Kim.

“Don’t worry, kitsune. I’ll get your swords back or die trying,” Shego declared while rubbing the smaller warrior’s shoulder.

Kim could not even speak, which did not matter because she would not have known what to say if she could. She probably would have blamed Shego for what happened, but she could not even think about that. All she could think about was having her swords back. She needed her swords; they were treasures to her. Taking her swords, the thief might as well have snatched her arms and legs, too, in her opinion because the weapons were just as important to her as her limbs.

Shego planned to break her back if necessary to get those swords back for her companion. She felt very responsible for what happened and what Kim was going through. She definitely disliked her strong, little kitsune freaking out and it was all her fault.

Sighing, Shego realized she was experiencing too much guilt lately, she thought. Still, she dashed around attempting to locate the physical manifestation of Kim’s soul. She was going to find those swords, Shego told herself over and over because she did not want to even think there was a chance that something else might happen. Afterward, she would make this all up to her princess.

-8-8-8-8- 

“Senpai, are you all right?” Crash inquired as Dash turned around suddenly.

They had been planning to make their way back home since they had been expected in a couple of days ago actually, but Dash seemed to be stalling on getting out of town now. He kept turning around as if he was looking for something, but never spotted what he sought. It was like he was a bird on high alert for a predator or prey. He also kept his hand resting on the hilt of his stolen weapon, the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows, which his two partners thought was weird. He was worse with that katana than Possible was, the two thought because of the way that he kept his hand on it. She at least did not need to touch it all the time like their leader seemed to need to do. 

“I’m fine. Stop asking me that,” Dash barked at his two teammates. They continuously asked if he was all right and it was getting on his nerves now since it had been going on for almost an hour. He was sick of hearing them talk for the most part. 

“You don’t look fine,” Burn pointed out, which was why they kept asking him how he felt. It did not help that he continuously turned around sharply every couple of minutes when nothing or no one was around. Plus, he was sweating a lot.

“What do you mean?” Dash countered in a close to angry tone. 

“You’re sweating,” the redhead commented.

“So? It’s hot,” the bald man huffed. He wiped his forehead, which did not help. He had sweat running down his cheeks. 

“Not really,” Crash objected. It was a fantastic day, not too hot or too cold. The sky was clear, but the sun was not really bothersome. There was no reason to be sweating.

Dash was not only sweating, but he also felt fidgety. He could not explain that away. Every sound made his muscles jump and he felt hyperaware of the world around him, waiting for something to happen.

He wanted to draw the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows, but he did not. It did not feel like the right time. He was not sure when the right time was for him to unsheathe the weapon, but he was certain he would know when the time came. He felt like he needed to cut someone in half, though. He was not sure who that someone was just yet, but he could feel the person was close. He could not wait for that person to show up, so he could get to work on that unlucky soul and show the person how amazing his new weapon was. Once his business was done with that person, he might turn around and take care of his teammates since they did not seem to know when to shut up.

“Come on, senpai. We need to get home before Director-sama has us commit seppuku (ritual suicide),” Crash commented. He imagined that a lot of the time that woman would devour them whole if she could and they would just have to stand there while she did it or try to complain to the Shogun, who probably would side with her anyway.

“Right,” Dash agreed and they continued on their way, trying to get out of the town and back on the road to get to Edo.

“We also need to get out of here before Possible realizes her swords are gone,” Burn added, hoping that would get their leader to stop fooling around and they could just be on their way.

“You think I’m afraid of that little girl?” Dash inquired with anger burning in his eyes. One might have thought Burn said something about his leader’s mother from the irritation in his voice. 

“I didn’t say that, senpai,” the redhead quickly defended himself, not looking to get into a battle with his leader. 

“But, you implied it,” the bald man growled like a mad dog. He had never felt so insulted in all his life that anyone would even come close to suggest that he was frightened of that little girl. He would tear her in half if she was there right now.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he argued.

“I could destroy that kid,” Dash proclaimed and he realized he wanted to do just that. He looked around, hoping to spot her, but he was not so lucky. “In fact, I will destroy that kid!” He then suddenly walked off, in the wrong direction. Apparently, he was serious and going to find Kim. He would show his teammates just how scared he was of Possible Kim. 

“What the? Senpai, where are you going?” Crash called to the departing bald man, who did not answer.

“What’s up with him?” Burn asked his partner with a confused expression on his face. 

Crash shrugged. “Hell if I know. Let’s follow him and try to figure out what’s going on. We really need to get back to Edo or Director-sama is going to eat our heads at this rate. She damn sure won’t be happy if he happens to actually kill Possible.”

Burn nodded. Director was probably going to punish them for their lateness anyway, but they really did not need to compound that. She definitely would be upset if their leader killed her nephew’s betrothed, even though those two did not like each other anyway. 

They took off after their leader and noticed he seemed to be searching for something or someone. They did not know anyone in the town, except for the girl that they had stolen weapons from, of course. They did not know why he would want to find Kim, though. They could not believe he was serious about fighting Kim. They had known the girl for years and, despite being annoyed with her, never thought to seriously fight her. Why would that suddenly change?

Dash hunted for Kim like snake hunting for a rat. His head turned sharply every few seconds, trying to find for some sign of her. He practically slithered by people and around buildings, in hurry to locate his prey. He felt like she was close by. It was almost as if he could sense her, just like a viper following its tongue to its dinner. He just felt the urge to destroy her and it was building with every passing moment. And then he spotted her and his hatred boiled through his system it seemed. A crimson steam seemed to rise off him at that very moment.

“Mim-hime,” Dash whispered to himself and he unsheathed the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows, which also seemed to be giving off a deep scarlet mist now. He then ran at Kim, who did not seem to be paying attention.

Kim was still depressed over the loss of her weapons. She quietly despaired while Shego had gone into a shop to see if someone had gone in there and sold the swords or maybe tried to sell the swords. And then suddenly, Kim was on full alert and dodging an attack. She jumped back while a sword came down. She caught sight of her enemy before her feet hit the ground.

“Demond-san?” Kim said with a scrunched up expression. She knew Team Impossible were no fans of hers, but they never had attacked her before. What was going on? And then she noticed the sword he wielded. “The Blade of a Hundred Sorrows? What are you doing with that?” she demanded, glaring at him.

“Mim-hime,” Dash growled as he turned his attention back to Kim and came at her with another powerful sword attack. There was eternal hatred in his movements. 

“Oh, crap, he’s possessed,” Kim realized as she moved out of the way of his attack again. She had never seen the possession of the sword before, but the fact that he called her Mim was a dead giveaway, mostly because she had been told that when the sword possessed someone that the souls of the men inside only wanted revenge on Mim. The bad thing was that the souls seemed to perceive any Possible protecting the blade as Mim.

There was also the fact that Dash seemed to be sporting a new red miasma surrounding him. The cursed blade held the same visible aura to it. The color in Dash’s eyes had faded almost completely, but there was still an intense look of pure, unshakable hatred in his eyes that was never present before. His face was tighter than usual from tension that came from the souls taking control over his body.

Instinctively, Kim went for her sword, hoping to fend off Dash. She clearly forgot that she was sans weapons. She silently cursed as she moved out of the way of the blade again and avoided losing her head to her own sword. She started scanning the area, looking for something that could be a weapon. She did not see anything. Hell, there were not even people on the street, as they all made hasty retreats when Dash charged in swinging the sword.

“Why the hell didn’t I bring my backup weapons?” Kim asked herself. She usually carried at least three backup weapons, but she left those with her horse, which she left with Ron and Yori. If anything, her weapons were at home now. Could the day get any worse, really?

The redhead just made sure to stay out of the way of the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. Dash snarled furiously every time that he missed the slender girl, as if he was an angry dragon, breathing out a crimson mist from his nose to go along with that. He did keep up with her better than most, but she was still avoiding him. He did not see the merit in keeping up with her unless he was cutting her head off, so it was moot to him.

“What the hell?” Shego muttered as she exited the store to see her girl nearly cut to bits by a man covered in a red fog that he seemed to be generating from what she could tell. It was always something, she sighed to herself.

“Shego, give me your sword!” Kim called urgently. She figured with a sword, she could quickly disarm Dash and with luck, it would get the demon souls out of him.

“No problem,” Shego answered and she tossed the redhead her blade.

The teen grabbed the sword and had to duck Dash taking a mighty horizontal slash at her. She unsheathed the ninjato (ninja sword) and quickly put the weapon out to block the next assault she knew was coming. She put the ninjato up just in time and as the blades collided then a couple of sparks were actually created as if the metals were hot as they rubbed against each other.

“Great, the flames of Hell come off the sword as well as demons,” Kim muttered.

“Mim-hime,” Dash snarled in a deep voice Kim knew was not his usual tone, looking down at her while their swords clashed. The scarlet aura helped hide his face, covering his visage in shadow, making him look very much like an oni.

“Demond-san, you’re being taken over by demons,” Kim tried to tell him in a rational tone, thinking it might get through to him. She was not sure if that would work since no one ever told her what she should do if someone was possessed by the sword, other than get the weapon out of the person’s custody. She would have to remember to ask her grandmother more about this the next time they saw each other.

“Mim-hime,” he growled, blowing out more red smoke from his nose and mouth now as he spoke.

Kim sucked her teeth since it was obvious now there was no getting through to him, especially since he kept referring to her as “Mim.” She was just going to have to get that accursed sword out of his hands and hoped that solved everything. She had no problem with that, especially since it was apparent that he was the one that stole her sword. She guessed that his two shadows held her personal weapons.

Shego just watched the sword fight as it took place. Being on the outside looking in now, Shego could see how her girl offered her competition. Kim was agile and flexible and seemed to be able to get out of the way of anything. And then to go along with her sword attacks, Kim had all sorts of martial arts moves.

Dash seemed to have his hands full trying to take Kim on, even though it was clear he was a master swordsman. Shego wondered what his malfunction was with attacking her kitsune, though. Whatever his issue was, Kim seemed capable of clearing it up.

Shego would have continued watching the blades cling against each other, sparking each time, but she something else caught her eye. She turned to her left and caught sight of Crash and Burn, who were also watching the battle. Shego did not know the pair, of course, but she did know those swords that they carried near their own. So, she made her way over to them, standing in front of them and sort of blocking the intriguing battle going on between their leader and Kim, which still included more and more sparks as their swords collided.

“Hey, guys,” Shego said to the pair in a very casual manner.

“Hey,” they replied in puzzled tones since they did not know her and she was in the way of an important fight as far as they were concerned.

“Those are some nice swords you have there,” Shego commented while motioning to weapons on their belts that did not seem to belong.

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” Burn said dismissively, looking over her.

“Funny, I have a friend who has swords that look exactly like those,” Shego stated and they seemed to have gotten the hint.

Crash and Burn pulled their weapons — their personally owned katanas. Shego leaped back to avoid getting sliced at the neck and waist. She then ignited her hands and went at the thieves who had gotten her into such trouble with her lover. She was angry with them for what happened with Kim. How depressed and stressed she was over the loss of her swords and of course how angry she had gotten with Shego. She was going to make them pay for it all.

Shego’s first move against Crash and Burn was to cut right through their swords with plasma-charged claws, mostly due to the fury that she felt toward them. They did not notice immediately, which cost them because they tried to counterattack her with the swords. She did not have to move and came in with punches for them, catching them in the chest. They fell onto their backs while wondering how in the hell a woman could be so powerful.

“Give me this, bitch,” Shego said to Crash and she ripped Kim’s katana from his side. She used the sheathed weapon to hit him in the stomach, which caused him to cough and he held his undoubtedly bruising belly. She turned her attention to Burn. “You want some of the same, bitch?” she inquired, still rather upset.

“Who are you calling a bitch, bitch?” Burn countered and he attempted to kick her while he was on his back.

Shego laughed a bit and caught his leg. “You’re the bitch, bitch.”

He was about to regret throwing his leg out at her, too. Now that she had the limb in her clutches, she was about to show her evil side. She proceeded to stomp him in the crotch, repeatedly. He cried out in sheer agony and passed out from the pain.

“I hope you already had children, bitch.” Shego chuckled as she leaned down and took her girl’s short sword from his side. She felt a bit better about herself having killed Burn’s nuts.

Shego was about to turn her attention back to the sword fight, but Crash decided to stand up. He took a few swings at Shego with his fists, which she blocked. He was weak from her first assault and slow due to his size, so he was easy to defend against. He then kicked at her side, which landed. She grunted, but she held his leg to her side and then she smashed him across the face with the sheathed katana that she held. Crash’s face snapped to the side and he fell over, halfway anyway since Shego was still holding his leg. She dropped him unceremoniously in the dirt and turned her attention to the fight.

“I hope he’s not totally dead,” she muttered as she focused back on her kitsune.

Kim seemed to be holding her own, so Shego figured she would just hold onto Kim’s weapons since the young samurai did not seem to need them. Kim continued to clash weapons with Dash and they tried to force each other back. Shego actually waited for the sparks from the swords to ignite the crimson aura that Dash was bathed in.

“Mim-hime!” Dash snarled in a blind rage. There were veins bulging on the side of his head as he tried to force Kim to her knees with the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows against the sword she was wielding.

“The name’s Kim,” she informed him and she kicked him hard in the side. He fell back, surprised by the hit and the strength of it.

“Mim!” the bald man snorted as if he was a vengeful bull. The veins in his head just bulged more as his face grew dark from shadows and the scarlet smoke slowly covering his whole being.

Kim did not even try to reason with him, even though it was still her first instinct. She ran at him while she had the chance, but she did not get to attack because he beat her to it. She put the ninjato out to block the katana and then she quickly stepped to the side. She went to strike him with her sword, but he blocked. They continued on in that manner for a few more steps until Kim changed strategies.

The redhead slid behind Dash and proceeded to hit him in the back with as many punches as she could. He turned around and swiped at her with The Blade. She jumped back and moved to the side, hoping to come in with a lightning fast strike of her own. He blocked that attack, but she lashed out with several kicks. He forced her back with their swords to get the kicks to stop. Kim just ran in for more.

“Mim!” Dash roared, backing Kim up with a powerful slice from his sword.

Kim yelped as the blade itself missed, but the aura seemed to cut her. Okay, no one mentioned the sword could do that. She was seriously going to have to talk to her grandmother.

“Dash, don’t make me have to seriously — Whoa!” Ducking, Kim lost several hairs to the Blade.

“Hey, don’t make her to tag me in!” Shego called. Of course, she knew Kim really would never forgive her if she jumped in on this fight.

Dash breathed hard, exhaling a huge amount of scarlet mist. It caused the very air to burn. Kim knew she had to do something quickly or somehow the demons could kill her without the Blade ever touching her.

The petite samurai decided it was best to go at Dash with punches and kicks, only using sword attacks as a distraction. She hoped to tire him out, if that was possible. The demons might actually push his human body beyond its limits, but she did not have a better plan.

He kept on coming just as she did. He never hit her, but still each swing of the Blade sent the now sharp miasma her way. She had to dodge the smoke as well as the sword. There were cuts on her arms and tears in her clothing. Soon, she was the one breathing hard and slightly hunched over.

“Kistune,” Shego whispered, pled.

Kim felt herself get a second wind. She would not lose, let alone die in front of Shego. Never that. She was not weak. So, she straightened herself out, ripped her shredded sleeves from her kimono, and got back into her fighting stance. She went back at Dash with renewed vigor.

Then, she got in what she would never admit was a lucky hit. Maybe it was because she had an angel on her side to counter the demons. She disarmed him with a rapid, surprising strike from her sword, sending the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows flying several feet away and landing harmlessly in the dust on its side. Dash gasped and his eyes followed the weapon as it got away from him.

“Mim…” he hissed while breathing hard, but he did not run at her.

Kim waited a moment to see what Dash would do. He bent down on one knee and then fell forward on his face. She was not sure if he passed out from the fighting or because the possession was over. She went to check on him and found that he was unconscious and the crimson aura around him quickly began dissolving. She took her scabbard for her sword out of his belt and went to retrieve her family’s sword. She put the cursed katana back where it could do no harm.

“Well, that’s one down,” Kim muttered with a sigh of relief. It was probably the most important one, but she still needed her true weapons back.

“Two to go, kitsune,” Shego commented as she came over, holding the two swords out as a peace offering.

“My swords,” Kim gasped and she grabbed them. She quickly put the weapons back on her hip and she sighed in relief. “Thank you!” she hollered and she threw herself in Shego’s arms. It would seem that it slipped her mind that it was sort of Shego’s fault her precious swords had gone missing. She was just overjoyed to have her treasures and the family heirloom back.

“Are you okay?” Shego asked. She had been a little worried when the miasma cut into her lover.

“I’m fine. None of the scratches are deep and I don’t need sleeves anyway,” Kim replied.

“Yeah, but we should get you a new kimono anyway and get you bandaged up.” 

Kim did not argue. She was not sure what type of sickness could have clung to the demon mist, after all. Sure, it was probable if an illness did come from the Blade there was no way medicine could help, but it was better safe than sorry. They got a room, leaving the entire Team Impossible just laid out in the middle of the empty street. Kim took care of her wounds while Shego stepped out to buy Kim a new kimono.

When Shego returned, Kim was all patched up and her swords were back on her hip. Shego just took her in for a moment, smiling at the sight. She then wrapped Kim up in a hug.

“I’m so sorry, hime,” Shego whispered.

Kim returned the embrace. “It’s all right. I know you didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Still, I could’ve lost you.” 

“No, you couldn’t have. I had an angel on my side, tenshi,” Kim remarked.

Shego could not help grinning. They held onto each other for a little while, not really keeping track of the time. They did not want to stick around too long, though. They had enough trouble here, after all.

“Come on, let’s get going,” Shego said while patting her companion on her lower back.

“Yeah,” Kim agreed and they continued on their journey.

“So, princess, how did you get away from the brothel, anyway?” Shego asked. She really did not want to remind Kim that she had done something as horrible as selling Kim, but she just had to know how her lover made it back to her.

“I beat them up the second they came to touch me and broke open the cage that they keep the women in. I thought the women would like to be free, but not too many of them fled. I still figured the owner would be concerned about fixing the cage before coming after me,” Kim explained.

Shego nodded. She figured that everything happened something like that. It was what she had been banking on when she sold Kim, but she still did not feel right about what she had done.

“I’m sorry for that, princess,” Shego apologized sincerely. 

Kim glanced over at her companion. She wanted to still be mad at Shego for what happened, but she looked ahead of her and thought about how close they were to their destination. She easily let her anger go, as if it was a captured firefly. She stepped closer to Shego and took Shego’s arm, placing it around her waist.

“It’s all right, tenshi, especially since we got everything back and you know I’d get away from there anyway. It’s good you were that confident in me,” Kim replied. 

Shego smiled a bit. “I know you can do anything.” Kim preened.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: they arrive at Edo.


	30. Back in Chains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

30: Back in Chains

The hill with a lone tree just outside of Edo was a magical place, as Shego had promised. The stars shone like precious stones, sprinkled throughout the blackened sky. The moon, almost full, looked down on them in a somber manner. They sat underneath the tree, looking up at the sky as if it would act as their savior.

Shego had her arm around Kim, who was leaning into the pale woman. They were silent for the most part, just enjoying their closeness and the fact that it felt like their souls were touching. They communicated through petting and caressing while eyeing the sky, not the city.

They would see the city too soon in their opinions. They had gotten there too quickly, but then again, it could have taken forever and a day to make it back to Edo and they would have felt that it was too soon. They had not been having a grand dream before arriving, yet they were still getting a rude awakening.

No, Shego told herself. If they had been dreaming, they could do it for a little while longer. She leaned down and touched her lips to Kim’s in a rather sweet manner. It was like having honey touch her mouth. Kim eagerly returned the kiss and it blossomed into something more.

They touched each other passionately, but gently, attempting to savor every moment they were together on that hill. They explored every dent on each other with deep interest, hoping to commit the other body to memory, hoping to make sure that the other remembered and cherished their time together for all eternity. After all, it was possibly their last time together. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Maybe we should get dressed,” Shego suggested as the sun began to come up, intruding on them as it often did.

Kim was lying on top of Shego, who rested on top of her own clothing because she was not interested in having dirt or grass blades stuck to her sweat-covered body. Kim’s head was tucked under Shego’s chin while Shego had her hand resting on Kim’s back. Shego’s fingers drew circles on the small of Kim’s back. Kim answered the proposal by shaking her head in objection. No, she most certainly did not want to get dressed.

The samurai did not want to move. She wanted to stay where she was forever and all time. Even when she died, she just wanted to be reincarnated back in the same place. She did not want to go into the city. She did not want to go home. She did not want to do anything that involved leaving Shego.

“I want to stay with you, like this, until the end of time,” Kim confessed.

“That does sound nice, but not very realistic,” Shego pointed out.

Kim scoffed. “So what?”

“Come on, kitsune. We have to get up and move sometime,” Shego said in a soft voice, hoping that would encourage her lover to get up.

“No, I don’t want to go. I don’t want you to leave me,” Kim protested, shaking her head and clutching Shego tightly. She was tired of pretending that everything was fine. She was tired of being strong. She just wanted what she wanted for once in her life, consequences be damned.

“We already agreed to this, Princess,” Shego pointed out, holding in a tired sigh. She did not want Kim to fall apart on her now, not when she was so close to doing something partially right.

“No! Stay with me! We can just keep walking, tenshi. We could go up north! We could go to the south! We could even go to the continent! We could do so much, tenshi, but we can’t do anything if you’re dead!” Kim stated fervently, sitting up a little to look Shego in the eye. Green on green was a powerful thing.

Shego could not hold in that sigh any longer. She sounded as if she was exhausted and rubbed Kim’s back a little more. She had to force herself to keep looking into those olive eyes, which were glazed over with water. Kim looked like she was experiencing the worst pain of her life, as if she was being made to walk through Hell on her own. Shego reached out with her free hand and caressed Kim’s cheek. The water in those misty olive eyes began to fall.

“Please, Shego! We could go anywhere!” Kim began to sob uncontrollably. “I’ll do anything you want. I’ll play the shamisen every day and serve you as much sake as you can drink, just don’t leave me alone! I don’t want to be without you!” She bawled, turning her head to hide her obvious tears.

Shego was touched, but she did not show it. She doubted she had ever had anyone cry because of her departure. She was not sure if she had anyone shred tears over her point blank. She just continued to pet Kim with a passive expression on her face. After a few tense seconds of Kim crying, Shego managed a fond smile. 

“Princess, people have to take responsibility for their actions. Besides, I made you a promise and I have to keep my word. It’s all I have beyond you,” Shego replied.

“I don’t want you to keep your word!” Kim wailed. “I just want you to stay with me! You won’t have me if you leave, so stay!” 

“I know, but I have to keep my word, especially to you. I’ve done a lot of growing up while I’ve been with you, kitsune, so I have to do this. It’s that simple,” Shego stated, sitting up. Kim remained on her, curled into her chest.

“How can it be that simple? Do you want to die? You don’t want to be with me anymore?” the redhead begged through her heavy tears.

“I’d like nothing more than to be with you forever, Princess. You’re just asking the impossible of me right now. I can’t run away with you and I don’t want you to run away anyway. We both have our honor. So, let’s get dressed,” Shego said as she moved Kim off of her. 

“I love you!” Kim declared loudly and unabashed. That was what the feeling was. That was what everything was and she wanted everything to be that way always.

“I know,” Shego replied as if that news was nothing to her. It was like the younger warrior was just reporting on the weather. 

The emerald-eyed woman did not say anything further. She stood up and began getting dressed. Kim could not believe her eyes. It was like Shego did not care about what she had just confessed. It was like she did not matter.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Kim hollered in a fit of sorrow and rage. 

“I heard you,” Shego answered in a calm tone.

“So?” the samurai pressed. Surely she was going to get some kind of response for her declaration, she thought. It only made sense to her.

“You should get dressed,” Shego said again. Her voice was flat, but internally, her stomach felt like it was in her feet. It tore her apart to see her beloved kistune so distraught.

“Shego.”

The older female did not say anything and outwardly ignored the sounds of Kim’s sobbing. Each noise cut through her, but she needed to be strong. She needed to do the right thing or she would never be worthy of her princess.

Kim began to get dressed since Shego was doing the same. She found it was difficult to stand up, so she did not even bother, leaning over for whatever clothing she needed to gather. She found it even harder to stop crying, but she made the attempt. By the time they were both dressed, Kim was on her hands and knees, bawling like a newborn while Shego was a couple of feet away from her, looking down into the city. 

“We should both go home, kitsune,” Shego commented in a dispassionate tone.

“I don’t want to,” Kim answered in a mumble.

“Princess, I think it’s fair to say that you’ve changed my life, very much for the better. I’m more thankful for you than I have ever been for anyone. I don’t think I could ever explain what you make me feel and saying ‘I love you’ rings so hollow because of that. But, I do love you with everything I have and that’s why I have to do this. I have to do the right thing. I have to keep my promise to you for you, so just trust me,” Shego explained as best she could. There would never be enough words for her to truly express herself to her lover. No amount of words would ever be able to properly describe what she felt. 

“You don’t have to keep this promise. I trust you, I really do. After all we’ve been through, I can’t help but trust you and know you’ll be there for me. I don’t need you getting killed to prove that you’re trustworthy and that you love me,” Kim replied, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“Go home and get some sleep, kitsune,” Shego instructed the redhead with another sigh.

“Shego, please, let’s just go. We can go anywhere and be free, just like you always want,” Kim begged.

“That’s not freedom, Princess. That’s just running and neither of us needs that. You have a life here in Edo and I don’t want you to have to leave that.”

Shego turned around to face her little kitsune. She leaned down to Kim and lifted her to her feet. She held Kim close to her and thought about how she had changed thanks to the samurai. Her meaning of freedom had somewhat changed. She had always wanted to do anything that she desired with her life as long as it was fun and that was freedom to her. Now, freedom was being able to be with Kim and she needed to obtain that freedom or death would be a welcome. 

“I need you, Shego,” Kim whispered.

“I need you, too, and that’s why I have to do this. Thank you for everything, kitsune. I’m so glad we met,” Shego said in a gentle tone.

“Me, too,” Kim agreed through some sniffles.

Shego did not want the farewell to be any longer than it already had. They would emotionally destroy each other if this went on for a little longer. She was tempted to just take Kim up on that offer to run away, but Kim also made her want to do the right thing. They did not need to run and she was not going to, she promised herself. She was going to keep her word.

Shego leaned down and gave Kim a tender, almost chaste kiss. “Later, kitsune,” she whispered and she released Kim. The raven-haired woman took off like a shooting star toward the city, leaving the redhead alone.

Kim could not keep herself up and she fell to her knees. She was in love with a woman who had just run off to her death to prove she was trustworthy. She began to sob again because she did not know what else to do. She was going to lose Shego. It was not fair. Life was not fair.

Why had she met Shego those few months ago if things were just going to end as they were? Why had they spent so much time together if everything was just going to end so suddenly? Why could they just not spend the rest of their lives together, even if things would have to change somehow between them? Anything would have been better than Shego running off to be crucified by the Shogun.

Shego would have been able to understand the questions floating around in Kim’s mind, even though she was not asking herself any of those questions. She was merely happy that she had met Kim. The feeling was new to her, but it had been in there since she met the redhead and spent some time with her. She was rather certain she had found what she had been seeking since she left home, since she had gone to be free. 

They had freed each other, bringing something they had not even known was missing from their lives. The feeling, whatever it was, love as Kim said or nameless in Shego’s opinion, it had been the key to their invisible bonds. And now that they experienced that sensation, being apart was like going back into a tiny cage.

Shego walked through the streets of a waking Edo as if she did not have a care in the world, even though she was not in favor of where she was heading. She wished there was some other way to prove herself, to get what she wanted, but if life was meant to be simple, people would be born without attachments and everything a person would ever need to survive. She would endure and be strong because of the girl she left crying at her special place.

At least she knew she was worthwhile to Kim, she told herself as she continued on. After all, Kim had shed tears for her. A powerful warrior like Kim had bawled for her to stay. Kim had been ready to disgrace herself and forsake her family and duties for Shego. Flattering did not begin to cover it.

The thought itself made her heart begin to race. No one had ever cried for her before and it felt wonderful to know she was cared for enough to be cried for. It was enough to make her want to cry, but she held that in. She was doing enough crazy things for one day, so she did not need to add weeping to that list.

She made it to Edo castle and looked at the structure. She sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. She took a deep breath to steel herself for what she was about to put herself through. She then entered the castle in her own special fashion, answering any questions from any guards with knockout blows from her ignited fists. She would see the Shogun on her own terms.

-8-8-8-8- 

Kim slowly made her way home, feeling and looking as if she carried the weight of the world on her slim shoulders. She entered the manor and did not even bother with greeting her family, even though she knew they were up and probably having one of their usual, eventful breakfasts. She just went straight to her room and unfolded her futon. She dropped down onto the mattress and fell into a dead sleep.

When she woke up, the only thing that Kim wanted to do was get clean and go back to sleep. She thought if she slept enough, the agony that she was experiencing would fade from her body and she would not feel as if she had been drained of everything that made a person want to go on living. It was a plan that she was willing to try out, so she went to go bathe and ended up running into her mother.

“Kim-chan, when did you get home?” her mother asked while grabbing the teen into a tight embrace. She was so happy that her daughter was finally home and she hoped the younger redhead was there to stay for a while now. 

“I don’t know. This morning, I guess,” Kim answered in a mumble. She did not feel up to talking to anyone about anything at the moment.

“Is everything all right, Kim?” her mother inquired, pulling back to look at Kim. It was not quite often that anyone in the Possible house was down, so it was easy to tell when something was wrong. 

“Everything’s fine. I’m just really tired,” the martial artist replied in a voice that reflected her response. She sounded as close to death as one could be without actually dying.

“Oh, well, you should relax now that you’re home. I can go prepare a bath for you if you want,” Ann offered. 

Kim considered the proposal. Maybe a hot bath would help. It was better than her idea of throwing a bucket of cold water over her head and then falling back into bed anyway. She took her mother up on that offer then. So, while Ann readied the hot bath, Kim went to clean herself off. She felt only slightly better when she was clean, but when she sank into the bath, it did not help much. She just remembered when she and Shego had spent time in the hot spring, which caused her to breakdown and cry again. She was thankful she was alone.

When she was done with her weeping and her bath, she put on a plain yukata and went back to her bed. She found herself unable to go back to sleep, which she had expected since she was not a person who thrived off of a lot of sleep. Not to mention, she had gotten used to falling asleep against a certain warm body. 

She needed something to do. She was all too aware that if she just sat around doing nothing, she would end up crying again. Crying would not get her anywhere.

Kim thought about practicing some martial arts, but that seemed like so much work to her very weary body and mind. She picked up her katana and found that it felt like it weighed the same as a building. She tried her other weapons, but discovered they all felt like the katana. Working out would definitely be too much work for her worn out body and mind, so she needed something different to do. 

She then went and grabbed something that she usually would not even touch in a nightmare, her shamisen. She exited her room and sat down on the veranda outside the garden. She hung her legs over the veranda into the garden, even though her feet were bare. She plucked the strings of her instrument and began to play.

The soft, melancholic music slowly drifted through the house and caught the attention of her family. They all thought it was rather odd for Kim to be playing an instrument they all knew she despised, but they tried not to think anything about it for the moment. After almost an hour of music though, her parents decided to go have a talk with her, hoping she would tell them what was wrong with her.

“Kim, is there something you want to talk about?” James asked, sitting down next to the teen. He was concerned because of the odd behavior Kim exhibited. After all, she was playing an instrument that she used to hide under the house when his mother was around to avoid having to touch it. Plus, she had not greeted any of them when she came home, which was a first. 

“No,” Kim answered in a small voice while being continuing to play.

“Are you sure, sweetie?” Ann inquired, sitting at Kim’s other shoulder. She put her hand on Kim’s shoulder, hoping to lift her spirits. 

“I am,” Kim replied quickly and in a monotone voice. It was clear that whatever was eating away at her, she was not ready to share. Her parents respected that and just left her alone for the moment. She focused her attention on the shamisen and continued on playing. Maybe if she played long enough, Shego would hear and return to her.

-8-8-8-8- 

“Director-sama,” Ann said in a rather surprised tone as the one-eyed woman showed up at their home.

“Good afternoon, Possible-sensei,” Betty replied, bowing slightly as a sign of respect.

“Um… Kim is having a rather bad day…” Ann began to say. She was not sure how to explain what her daughter was going through, but she knew Kim was not in any state to do any more favors for Director-sama. 

“Is she? Oh, well, I’m only here to offer her some news and thank her for her hard work. I’m not going to do much more than that,” Betty explained in a sincere tone.

Ann nodded and smiled slightly. She was glad that Betty had not shown up to take her child once again. She motioned for the one-eyed woman to follow her and they walked to the section of the manor that Kim was last seen in. Kim was still there, playing her string instrument. She looked rather distressed, Betty noted. 

The one-eyed woman wondered why Kim looked so down. She had managed to do the impossible and yet, she looked as if she was going to her death soon. It was a baffling thing. Betty considered she might have to ask about as she sat down next to Kim. The redhead did not even glance at the older warrior.

“You know, I have to admit that when you decided to go after Shego that night, I thought you’d give up after not finding her and come back because she’s good at giving people the slip. So, imagine my surprise when I hear that Shego showed up at the Shogun’s castle this morning, acting out as usual, but she surrendered in order to see the Shogun. I thought you probably had something to do with it,” Betty commented, trying her best to sound friendly and she was succeeding. She hoped her tone would get Kim to open up, maybe even share how she got Shego to return to Edo and see the Shogun.

“Yeah, I beat her in a fight and she promised to go back,” Kim grumbled, upset that she had won that battle now. A victory never tasted so bitter and rang so hollow as that one did. She probably would have felt better if Shego had killed her that day, like the pale woman had so badly desired to.

“Amazing to beat her in a fight. She is a skilled and masterful warrior,” Betty commented and all Kim did was nod in response. 

“Director-sama, I’m not up to another mission right now,” Kim informed the one-eyed female. She was not up for anything really. Part of her was not sure how she even managed to make it to the porch to sit down. 

Betty shook her head. “I’m not here to offer you one, Kim-dono. I only wanted to congratulate you on bringing Shego in. I can see you need a break and it is something that I can understand. You’ve more than earned it.”

Betty could understand because Vivian was still hounding her about taking a break. She still owed Vivian an afternoon of tea. She suspected Vivian was going to just show up at her home sooner or later and poison her through tea. She knew that she would deserve no less.

“Thank you, Director-sama,” Kim mumbled. She wished she had it in her to ask about Shego, but she did not have the strength to do so. She did not want to find out that Shego was going to be crucified. 

“Did something happen, Kim-dono? I’m surprised you’re not celebrating this victory,” Betty commented.

Kim scowled. “There’s nothing to celebrate.” There was nothing at all. 

Betty sighed and decided to just leave Kim to her despair because that seemed what the girl wanted. She bid Kim farewell and Ann walked Betty out of the house. Ann returned to her daughter and sat down next to the girl, just listening to her play the shamisen. 

“Your grandmother taught you well,” Ann commented after a long moment. She could remember how much Kim tried to run and hide when she was younger and her grandmother came around with the shamisen. It was funny because to Kim the lessons seemed like terror incarnate, but she was very talented with that instrument now.

“I guess,” Kim muttered with a shrug. 

“Kim-chan, tell me what’s wrong,” Ann gently requested, sitting with Kim again.

“Mom, do you love Dad?” Kim asked curiously, looking up at her mother with big eyes. 

Ann smiled a bit and a soft look settled in her eyes, which answered the question probably better than words ever would or could. Still, Kim waited for a verbal response. She wanted an explanation of some kind and she was not sure why. Was she looking to find out that being in love was something common and happened often? Was she trying to discover if love was rare and something she needed to hold onto tightly while she had it, which would lead her to do something extra stupid? What would the knowledge do for her, she asked herself. She did not know, but she still waited for her answer.

“I do love your father, very much,” Ann answered. It was the honest and simple truth. People might wonder why, but she loved that man fiercely and she was certain she always would.

Nodding, Kim squinted a bit. “Have you always loved him?” 

“Well, I’ve always liked him,” the doctor replied with another smile and a bit of a laugh. “Are you asking this because of your arranged marriage to Will-kun?”

The teenager groaned. “Mom, don’t call him that.” It sounded vile to her ears to hear him referred to in such a way. 

“What? You don’t think that’s cute?” Ann teased her daughter slightly.

“No, I don’t think Will’s cute or anything about him, including the nickname,” the warrior answered bluntly and her mother laughed. 

“I know you don’t. So, are you asking this because of your arrangement with Du-san?” Ann asked, even though she could guess that answer. Kim and Will probably would never get along and definitely would never love each other. She had her doubts they would ever be a functioning couple or even figure out how to be partners of any kind.

“No,” Kim answered. 

“Because I know you don’t love him now, but you could grow to love him,” the doctor said and her daughter looked at her rather skeptically. “Okay, maybe not love him, but surely, you won’t kill or cripple him during your marriage,” she amended her statement… or so she hoped anyway. 

It had to be possible that the two could get along just a little bit. They were going to have to because Ann knew that the heads of the two clans would not hold off their wedding for much longer. Kim and Will were two mature people. So, they would be able to figure something out… right?

“That has yet to be seen. Would you do anything for Dad?” Kim inquired. 

“I think so,” Ann replied. She had not been placed in a position to test that theory, but she was certain she would do any and everything for her husband.

“Would you do anything to keep him?” 

“I think so.” Once again, she had not been put in a position where she might have to do anything to keep her husband, but she was certain she would if she was placed in such a situation. She would not give James up for anything.

Kim thought on that for a moment. “Would he do anything for you?”

“I hope so,” her mother answered with a smile. “Why are you asking these questions, though?” 

“I think I’m just trying to get an idea as to what love is,” Kim replied. She was certain she loved Shego and she was trying to figure out what she should do about that. “If Dad claimed he had to do something dangerous, probably even deadly to prove his love for you, would you let him do it?”

“I would try to fight him because I don’t think he has to prove his love and I wouldn’t want to lose him, but if he was hell bent on it, I suppose I’d have to let him go. I guess I would just have to trust that he knew what he was doing. Love is about trust, among other things.”

Kim nodded. “What about staying with the one you love without going off to do anything stupid that doesn’t need to be done?” she inquired with a frown and a huff. She was upset that Shego had left her when she felt it was totally unnecessary. She already trusted Shego more than she would any other person not related to her, so the pale woman did not have to go run off to her death just to keep a promise.

“Sometimes, what you think is stupid and unnecessary is not seen as the same by others. You should at least wait to see what happens before judging what the person has to do as stupid, anyway. Perhaps, it’s actually a brilliant move,” Ann commented with a shrug. 

“I don’t know,” Kim mumbled, shaking her head. How could Shego going to her death more than likely actually be some brilliant move?

“Wait and see before judging. You have to trust the person you love, even if they seem a little crazy,” her mother said in an assuring tone.

Ann was curious as to whom Kim had fallen in love with. She knew she should discourage Kim from such a thing because she was promised to Du Will, but she did not have it in her to do such a thing. If her daughter was in love, she just wished Kim the best. Her daughter deserved to be happy and there was no way that Du Will would ever provide her with such a thing. She only hoped things worked out for her darling child.

Kim nodded, accepting the advice. She continued on playing her shamisen. She did not know what else to do, except wait and see like her mother said. Once the scene played out, she figured she would act. All she knew was that she could not and would not allow Shego to just die. She would do everything in her power to either save Shego or die with her because she doubted she could go on without the pale woman.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego entered a room alone, closing the shoji behind her. She was cleaned up, hair presentable for the first time in a long time considering she had the time and the desire to comb it, and she wore her usual clothing, despite who she was meeting. She then caught sight of the screen. She sucked her teeth in annoyance. It had been enough that she had to wait so long to see him, but now he was going to pull out the screen? She would not take that. 

“Get real, you know I’m not talking to you through that damn thing,” Shego said as she climbed to her feet.

“Stay where you are,” came the firm order from behind the screen.

“Like hell I will,” she declared and she stormed over to the screen. What did he think he was doing anyway, she asked herself. She grabbed the thing and flung it to the side of the room, revealing the Shogun. 

“What the? You still don’t listen, imouto (younger sister),” Hego huffed, looking at Shego with slight anger dancing in his blue eyes. He thought she would have learned to respect him by now with him being Shogun and everything, but she was still as cranky and undisciplined as ever in his opinion. What was he supposed to do with her? 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the conclusion.

Bonus gallery picture by [HazuraSinner](http://hazurasinner.deviantart.com/): [KP - Honor Bound](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/art/KP-Honor-Bound-53569220). I had considered this for the cover. Please, leave any comments for the artist at deviantart. 


	31. Deus Ex Machina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

31: Deus Ex Machina

Shego frowned at her big brother, Hego, the Shogun. She was upset with him because he had the nerve to meet with her behind a screen as if she was some daimyo or someone else who would accept being beneath him. She was not looking to take that. She was even angry he had the nerve to address her as “imouto,” even though she was just that. She just did not have much patience when it came to her older brother.

“Are we going to talk like intelligent people or what?” Shego huffed, letting her anger be known through her tone, even though it was evident from the harsh look in her emerald eyes. _You’re doing this for Kim, but you need him to respect you_. 

“If you could just sit down and be civil, imouto,” Hego answered with a frown. He was more than familiar with the look in her eyes. He was pretty sure the expression was the only one she ever showed him.

“And stop calling me that. My name is Shego, use it,” she stated firmly. 

“Fine, _Shego_ , sit down,” the large male commanded, some anger in his voice now. The way she behaved toward him infuriated him like nothing else on the planet. She needed to show him respect, he thought. He was the Shogun now, after all.

Shego continued to scowl, but she did as he said. She sat down in front of him, mere inches from the most powerful man in the country, literally and figuratively. In turn, he did not look too pleased either, even though he was grateful his sister was back considering the fact that she had run away years ago in a rather irresponsible manner.

“It’s good to have you back,” he said in a rather insincere manner. He was all right with her being back. She belonged there in Edo, in the castle, after all. He just wished she would learn how to behave properly.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she replied in a flippant tone. She did not want to be in a room with her older brother. She thought he was an arrogant ass and that was _before_ he became the Shogun. He had only gotten worse since gaining the position in her opinion, so she really did not like being in the same place as he was.

“I know you had something to do with these most recent plots against me,” he commented, trying to sound calm and collected.

Shego smirked, obviously more amused with anything than ashamed. “I was just doing what the man I was promised to wanted me to,” she replied as if the attempt on her brother’s life was nothing.

“You mean to tell me there is a man that you’d listen to who isn’t our father?” he asked incredulously. He thought it would take massive amounts of torture to get his younger sister to do what any man said that was not their father. She definitely never did what he said.

“Not particularly, no. The plot obviously wasn’t very serious or effective since you’re still alive,” she pointed out while motioning to him lazily with her right hand.

“Do you really want my birthright so badly that you would try to kill me?” he inquired, letting some emotion slip into his voice.

Shego could tell that her brother was hurt by her actions. She looked away, hating she felt a ping of guilt over his pain. Sure, he was a jackass and she disliked him, but he was her big brother. He had once saved her life, even though he had not done it very humbly. She did not want the big idiot to feel any kind of pain because of her, maybe annoyance and frustration, but not pain.

“Hego, you know if I wanted your position or if I wanted you dead, I’d just kill you right now. I’m not the little girl who couldn’t beat you in a fight anymore and we both know that. So, stop acting like a baby,” she replied rather unsympathetically and the agonized look in his eyes vanished like a discovered ghost.

“Then you’re telling me that you were just following Junior-san around because you were supposed to be married to him?” Hego asked. He could not help rolling his eyes.

“No, not really. I was hanging out with Drakken and he happened to hook up with Senior-sama. Funny, Junior-san wasn’t as horrible as I imagined him to look, but he was dumber than a stone. He thankfully didn’t recognize me,” Shego replied with a small, amused smile.

“Well, you were both really young when you met before. I hardly remembered what Junior-san looked like,” he commented absently.

“You executed them all, didn’t you?” she asked, her voice a little smaller than she meant it to be. She needed confirmation on what happened to Drakken more than anything. He was probably going to be on her mind for the rest of her life more than likely. She might be able to get over the whole “I failed him” thing because the man was an idiot and did not take things seriously when the situation called for it, but he was still _her_ idiot and he was gone.

“I had to. You know the law,” he stated simply. She knew what had to be done to traitors, so he did not even see why she was asking him such an obvious question.

“That I do,” she answered. “I just wanted to be sure.”

Shego had to know what happened to Drakken and part of her was sorrowful over losing him. Maybe that part of her would always be there, which she did not mind much. Everyone deserved to have someone mourn them, so she would mourn him. But, she had to move forward in life, especially since she had things to live for now. She had someone she needed to get back to. 

“So, you’ll be staying here now. I’ve got a fine lord that you could marry,” Hego started up being his usual self already, trying to control her life, in her opinion anyway.

“Hold on, chief. You’re getting way ahead of yourself. I’m staying here in the city maybe and I’m not getting married. I’m here to tell you how to get me to stay some place you know where I am for the most part and you’ll never have to worry about me possibly being involved in a plot to take your title,” Shego explained, not that she felt she was ever involved in a serious plot. This last one just got more serious than she imagined it could.

Hego’s face twisted in confusion, his broad chin moving slightly to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“I want you to give me Possible Kim,” Shego stated as if it was the simplest thing on Earth.

“I can’t just give you a girl, especially a girl from a prominent family who’s already engaged to be married to a boy from another prominent family. Besides, Father and Mother told you about this already,” Hego argued.

Hego knew about his sister’s “quirk.” He once caught her with her friend when she was little. He had not really known what to make of it, but he told their father about it and he knew it got Shego into a lot of trouble. It took him a while to process the information, but he eventually figured it out, especially after overhearing a few conversations between their parents and his sister. It would seem that she was not over that “quirk,” despite all of the reprimands she had taken from their parents.

“Hego, just do this one thing for me,” Shego requested. She did not order him to do it and she did not use force in her voice. She was actually asking for a favor for him, which he did not seem to recognize.

“I can’t just give you a girl. First of all, what you want is wrong—” he started, but she cut him off.

“Damn it, Hego. This is not a good time to piss me off. I came here, I’m talking to you, and I’m asking you for something that I could just as easily get myself. You might not understand what the hell it means to love someone, to need someone, but I do and I came here actually out of a sign of fucking respect just to do things right and to make sure that nothing happens and now you’re acting like the dick I know you to be,” she declared in a heated tone.

Hego was a bit taken aback by that. He was used to his sister being crude with him, even vulgar. He was used to the childish names, but he was not accustomed to hearing her talk about loving anybody and respect toward him. He knew she loved certain people, even though she never said it and he knew she respected certain people, even though she never said it, but it was shocking to hear the words from her lips.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked, his voice trembling just a bit. 

“Hego, just let me have Kim. I’m not going to run away with her or anything. I just need to be near her, with her. Okay?” she replied in a calm tone. She reminded herself she was trying to do things the right way and she needed to be calm about things. The last thing she needed at the moment was to get into an argument with Hego.

“Shego,” he sighed the name. He did not know what else to do or say at the moment. 

“Please,” she requested, which only stunned him more. She even bowed her head to him. She just wanted to be able to live her life in peace with Kim and she knew the best was for that to happen would be if she had the Shogun’s permission.

“Imouto…” he whispered in pure shock. He had expected her to threaten him for what she wanted, not beg.

“Please, oniisan (elder brother),” she repeated, bowing even lower. Her pride ached and she felt her eyes starting to sting with water, whether it was humiliation at her actions or sorrow that she might not get her desires, she did not know or care. She would humble herself before her brother if it meant he would just leave her be and let her live out her life with Kim and only Kim. She did not want to hear him talk about marrying her off to anyone, like their father had done so long ago. She just wanted to be happy like any other person and for that to happen, she needed to be with a certain crazy little kitsune. 

Hego sighed again, bothered by the situation she was trying to get him into. What would it take for his little sister to understand he could not just give her a girl for whatever reasons she wanted her? It would bring a scandal the likes of which no shogun had ever seen. Besides, it was morally wrong. Their parents had been very much against her doing what she did with girls, after all. 

“Shego, this girl is already engaged to be married,” Hego said, hoping he could get his sister to be reasonable. He knew of Kim’s betrothal to Will because he had to approve it and the heads of those families were eager for the union.

“But, she loves me…” Shego admitted in a whisper. She had not known Kim was engaged and she really did not care. She knew how Kim felt about her and how Kim made her feel, which were the only important matters in her opinion.

“Shego, surely, if you stay here, you will meet someone—” he tried to reason with her.

“I won’t!” she insisted in a thick tone. A tear fell from her eye, dotting the floor. She would never meet someone like her princess. “I don’t expect you to understand this. I don’t expect you to even condone it. I just expect you to help me do this the right way.” 

“There’s nothing right about this. You want a girl when you’re a girl yourself,” he pointed out with some fire in his tone. He was a little emotional himself now. How dare she come and ask him to do something that could compromise their entire family? How dare she try to manipulate him? 

“Everything is right about what we feel,” Shego insisted.

“No, it’s not. I won’t let you use me like this,” he stated in a strong tone, practically glaring at her now.

Shego swallowed hard and then raised her head, allowing her brother to see something he had never seen in her before. Shego appeared ragged and tired. She looked vulnerable. He supposed he did not understand what she was going through because he could not comprehend what would make her look like that. What could possibly make his sister, who he knew his father would have made Shogun if only she had been born a boy, look ready to burst into tears? 

“I came to you to do this as proper as the situation allowed. I came to you in respect—” Shego started but, he cut her off.

“You came to me because I’m in power and I’m your brother,” he pointed out. She came to use him in his opinion. 

Her eyes hardened into something he was a little more familiar with. “Is that what you think? I don’t give a damn about your power. You always think everything is about your stupid power or position.”

“Is it?” he demanded, glowering down at her.

She snorted through her nose. “Had anyone else been in this fucking position, I wouldn’t even bother with it. I would’ve taken Kim like she pled with me to do and never looked back. But, we’re family and I thought I could behave a little bit for once and be nice, but fuck nice because what the hell do you know about it?”

“Shego—” he tried to interject, but she was on a roll. 

“You’re just an arrogant prick who wouldn’t know how to help a person if your fucking life depended on it. I tell you what, I’m going to go and take Kim and I’m going to leave a note at the Possible household telling them if they have a problem with it, they should come and talk to you. We’ll see how long your reign lasts with that clan breathing down your back. I’m sure Kim’s fiancé won’t be too please about things either, so his family will undoubtedly be here, too. And maybe on my way out, I’ll remind the twins and Mego that they could do a better job then you at being shogun and they’ll believe it when they see all the trouble you’re in when those clans come knocking at your door,” Shego stated, now looking like her usual smug self. She could ruin her big brother if the urge ever overcame her and he seemed to need to know that.

“Are you _threatening_ me?” he demanded. He was the Shogun and he was not about to let his _little_ sister threaten him. 

“No, baka, I’m promising you. I can make your life a living hell, whether you’re Shogun or not because I don’t give a fuck and it seems you only understand shit when it has something to do with you. I made the mistake of thinking you might care, but since that’s obviously not the case, I don’t see why I should try to be nice to you anymore,” she said in an almost wicked tone with a matching glint her eyes. 

Hego stared at his sister, who had that challenging gleam in her eyes he knew all too well. He had pushed her to being underhanded and for once it left a bad taste in her mouth. She wanted to do things the right way for Kim. She was willing to sit there and talk things out as if they were two adults, but he had not accepted that. He still had to act like he knew everything and piss her off.

“I can’t just give you a girl. It’s not right or proper and you know that. This is something our father would never approve of,” he insisted.

“She wants me. All you have to do is promise to never bother us and I’ll handle the rest. You’ll never have to see me again,” she informed him. And she never wanted to see him again.

“That’s not what I want, imouto,” he argued. He did not know where she got the idea that he wanted her to go away. He did not want their family to be spilt up. She was about to let him know it was not always about him or what he wanted. He might rule the country, but he did not rule her. 

“It’s not about what you want! If you want to be my older brother, it’s too late. You’ve been an asshole for this long and I know from this interaction that it’s not going to change. If you want to control my life for whatever fucking reasons, I’m not going to let you. This is my life and I’ll live it how I want. I’ve found my happiness and I’m not going to let you stand in the way of things because you think you know every damn thing or because of what our dead father would have wanted. I try to talk to you like we’re civilized beings and all you can do is talk down to me because you’re the Shogun and you’re my older brother. Did it ever occur to you that if you spoke to my like a person, like you respected me that I might actually listen to whatever the hell you had to say? No, and you know why? Because you’re too fucking stupid to realize that. So, just give me what I want and we can be fucking done with each other. We don’t have to cause each other any more grief than we have,” she pointed out, sounding heated, but speaking in a mostly even tone.

“I don’t want to control you. I just want you to do what’s right,” he huffed.

“You mean what’s right for you. You want me to be a perfect little maiden, locked up in here, and marry me off to some lord to give you more control. You know that and I know that,” she stated. 

“That’s the way it works.”

“That’s not the way _I_ work,” she growled.

“Shego…” he was not sure what to say, what to argue. Why was it every time they got together they argued? Why was it that she just could not do what he said like everyone else? She had always listened to their father, so he did not understand why she would not listen to him.

It never seemed to reach his brain that he was not her father and she resented that he tried to act like he was. Added to that, he seemed to think that people were supposed to just listen to him. His leadership skills were nonexistent to her and she was sick of him pretending like he was some great leader.

“It’s boiled down to now a very simple thing, Hego-chan,” she said, mocking him with the “-chan” at the end of his name. She even spoke his name with a goofy grin on her face to further mock him. “You can agree or disagree. Weigh your options carefully.” 

“If I agree, not only am I allowing you to do the wrong thing and bring a very righteous girl with you, but I’m interfering with the Du clan, the Director clan, and also the Possible clan.”

“The Director clan?” Shego echoed. “You mean to say that Kim is to be married to Director Betty’s nephew then?” she asked. She knew Director Betty’s sister had married into the Du clan and bore a son. Could that be Kim’s intended?

“She is,” he confirmed.

“Well now, that does make things even better. I suppose I should’ve just spoken to Betty about this and not even bothered with coming to see you. At least she’s reasonable,” she remarked. Things were starting to look up, she thought.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Nothing. Just agree, oniisan,” she ordered him, still mocking him. Only she could make fun of him by calling him something she was supposed to.

“I can’t,” he objected firmly.

“You can. Save yourself the grief. Just say ‘yes’ right now and then you can pretend this whole conversation never even happened. I was never even here,” she said.

“You have a plan,” he realized.

“I have something, but I have no desire to share the details with you. Now, say ‘yes’ and our business will be complete.”

Hego thought about it. Shego was going to do what she wanted to do anyway, that was how she operated. At the moment, he had the option of saving face and forgetting that things ever happened or having to deal with a mess she would undoubtedly unleash upon him judging by how upset she was. He gulped and gave her a very small, almost unnoticeable nod. She smiled at him like an evil cat and then she exited the room, leaving him to his duties and his illusions that the conversation they had just had never happened.

Shego left the castle altogether and then went in search of Director Betty. If her memory served her correctly, she knew how to get to the woman’s home, only to find out that Betty was not there. She considered the one-eyed female could be working, as she had a horrible habit of doing all the time or she could be at her favorite torture chamber. Shego banked on the torture chamber and was correct. It would seem that Vivian had finally gotten hold of Betty to have tea with her.

“Isn’t this place a little lowbrow for a Director?” Shego commented with an amused smile as she entered the room, startling the other two ladies.

“Shego-sama,” Betty gasped while Vivian could not even find her voice once Betty said the name. Vivian had heard a lot about Shego from Betty over the years, including that she was the daughter of the previous shogun and sister of the current shogun.

“Come on, Betty, I’d like to think we’ve made it past all this ‘sama’ crap. I mean, with the history we have and everything,” Shego replied with an amused, slightly demonic smirk.

“I suppose so,” Betty chuckled and the blond in the room was now lost.

“What history is that?” Vivian gently prodded, staring some rather pointed daggers in Betty’s direction. While she had heard things, she had no idea Betty had an intimate history with Shego.

Betty shook her head and waved it away. “Nothing, just childhood memories. We used to be really good friends when we were younger,” she answered before Shego could open her mouth. “So, Shego, why don’t you join us?” she offered while motioning to the small table between her and Vivian. There was tea and sweets to be had.

“All right,” Shego agreed and she sat down. Vivian served her a cup of tea and they sat silently for a moment.

“What brings you around here? I thought you were going back home,” Betty said to Shego.

“I just went to see my brother. He was useless to me as usual,” Shego replied while rolling her eyes. She was irked just thinking about that big idiot. 

“He might be more open to suggestions if you stop putting yourself in plots to overthrow him,” the one-eyed female pointed out, sounding both serious and kidding at the same time.

“I doubt it,” Shego replied with a scoff. He was never open to suggestions, after all. 

“I know,” Betty agreed. The current shogun certainly did not match up to the former. She supposed there was time and room for him to grow into the man that his father was. He seemed to try, but he was just living in the shadow of a great man, a great dead man.

“Excuse me, Shego-san, have I seen you before?” Vivian asked with a slightly furrowed brow. There was something about the raven-haired female that seemed very familiar to her.

“I doubt that,” Shego replied.

Betty smiled knowingly. She gathered Shego was probably the silent bodyguard who used to frequent the teahouse with the now deceased traitors, the Seniors and Drakken. It seemed ironic to her that they would come to Vivian’s place of all locations, even though Vivian did run a top-notch establishment. It was lucky for her that they ended up at Vivian’s place because she was able to find out about their plot very early. It could have been rather serious if they had not been caught before they were able to start fighting with those weapons that they had. 

“So, like I said, what brings you by?” Betty asked with an arched eyebrow. She was a bit surprised Shego even remembered where the teahouse was that she tended to spend her free time at. Shego had never gone with her to the teahouse to know she was usually there, which was probably one of the reasons Shego had not objected when the plotters that she was with went there.

“I’ll tell you in a moment. So, whatever happened to your fat husband?” Shego asked. Sure, she had not seen Betty in a number of years, but she still recalled things about her friend.

“The fat bastard died years ago thankfully,” Betty answered as if it was nothing. Vivian looked away, mostly to hide the fact that she was smiling over that statement.

Shego laughed a bit. “You always did have good luck. You fulfilled your family obligation and still managed to get out of it. So, now you get to live your life the way you want.”

“Is someone green with envy?” Betty teased.

“Something like that,” Shego admitted with a friendly smile and nod. “Definitely something like that. So, I hear your nephew is engaged to the person who tracked me down.”

“Oh, yeah,” Betty replied and nodded. The look on her face was an odd one, though, in Shego’s opinion anyway. She looked ready to burst into a fit of laughter over her nephew’s engagement.

“So, what’s the little couple like?” 

Betty did laugh this time. She could not help it. “They were supposed to get married two years ago, but we’re all still trying to figure out how it’ll be possible for them to be left alone in a small place for an extended period of time. We’re pretty sure they’d fight to the death before consummating the marriage.”

“Match made in Hell, huh?” Shego remarked. She was very glad to hear that. It was good to know that her princess really was hers and not inclined to even be with the man that she was promised to.

“This would be the problem with pairing young people up before they’re old enough to talk because had we just waited until they could talk, they would’ve let us know things weren’t going to end well. Although their first meeting and how they got into a fist fight at the age of two should’ve tipped us off,” Betty remarked.

Shego laughed. “That does sound like a clue.”

“She’s called him ‘bighead’ throughout her life and he’s referred to her as ‘busybody’ for just as long. Those kids… they’re never going to be happy together,” Betty stated soundly with a disappointed sigh. She knew that and she wished their families would just leave them be. They had had a lot of time to consider leaving the pair be by waiting for a long time before looking for the Shogun’s permission to let the two get married, but even with all of that time, they still seemed to make the wrong decision for the teens. Everyone knew they would never be anything but antagonistic toward each other, but no one would say it. That was why no one was in hurry for them to get married. Still, she knew that one day, the heads of their families were going to force those two to wed and it would not end well. Even if they did not kill each other, they would never be happy again and Betty hated that their families were willing to take that from them.

“Has anyone thought to sit down and talk with them to find out how they might be happy and still fulfill family obligations?” Shego asked.

“No, it makes too much sense,” Betty remarked.

Shego nodded. “What if we did that?”

“We?” Betty echoed.

“And this would be the reason I’m here. I’ll explain it to you if we can all get together and talk about it at your place,” Shego said.

“If I leave right now, Vivian-san is going to slit my throat the next time she sees me, with my own katana,” Betty replied while glancing at Vivian, who nodded to confirm that was the truth.

Shego smirked a bit. “She’s got you on a tight line, huh? Someone needs to control you before you work yourself to death. If you’re going to be doing what you love, it should at least be a person.”

Vivian blushed at the remark, which Shego thought was amusing. It seemed like everyone was trying to make her believe that she was the only vulgar person on the planet. Betty merely swallowed her tea rather hard and then began to cough as it went down the wrong way.

“Okay, you know what, Vivian-san, I’ll see you later. Let me get her out of here before she says something worse,” Betty said as she put her teacup down.

Vivian pouted, making sure to overdo it in order to get to the one-eyed warrior. “But, you never come back when you say that.”

“I promise I will come back. Let me just find out what she wants and I’ll come right back,” Betty vowed while climbing to her feet and pulling Shego out of the room. As they were exiting down the hall Betty could be heard screaming, “WHAT!” 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Betty were in a room in Betty’s home, waiting for Kim and Will to show up. Betty’s whole jaw was tense, along with the rest of her body actually. She could not believe the things Shego had the nerve to tell her. That had to be the weirdest conversation they had ever had since they met and there were a lot of conversations to beat to hold that title. She could not believe the position she was in now thanks to her so-called friend.

“You do know I hate you now, right?” Betty grumbled, speaking out of the side of her mouth for some reason while not bothering to look at the pale woman in her company.

“It took you this long? You must’ve liked me a lot then,” Shego remarked with a smart-ass smirk on her face.

“Thank kami-sama (God) these two didn’t like each other in the slightest or I might really be pissed at you,” the one-eyed woman stated, sounding pissed anyway. She would have killed Shego if her nephew had actually had feelings for Kim, but they did not have to worry about that.

“Oh, so it’s my fault she’s a kick ass kitsune? Sounds like something you should blame on her parents,” Shego quipped, still looking like quite the smart-ass.

“I don’t believe this. I can only pray that Will-kun takes this well or I’m going to have to kill myself,” Betty said with a groan.

“Why do you always swear that every time something might go wrong you’ll probably have to kill yourself? The world isn’t interested in seeing you spill your guts, so calm down. I don’t see you freaking out about how you’ll have to commit suicide if someone finds you hanging out with Vivian-san,” Shego pointed out. 

“Just shut up,” Betty grumbled. When it came to Vivian, the consequences of her actions be damned.

“And you still can’t beat me in an argument,” Shego boasted. 

Betty just glared at Shego, thoroughly hating the green-skinned warrior at the moment. They did not have a chance to continue the conversation as the guests of honor arrived. Will and Kim managed to enter the room without shoving to go in first, which surprised Betty; little did she know, but they had gotten that out of the way at the front gate with Kim practically throwing Will to the ground, so she could go in ahead of him. He was still rather upset about it and that could be seen on his face.

“Shego?” Kim said in surprised when she noticed the pale woman. She wanted to go throw herself on Shego to make sure she was real, but she refrained from such a spectacle. She was just happy to see her beloved alive. 

“Hey, kitsune,” Shego replied with a smirk. She wiggled her eyebrows at the redhead.

“Come on in and sit down, you two. We need to talk,” Betty said while gesturing for the teens to enter and sit, which they did after making sure the door was closed.

Kim sat next to Shego, which caught Betty’s attention and Shego grinned at her as if saying “I told you so.” Betty rolled her eye because of Shego’s smug expression. Will sat down next to his aunt, which was expected. The teens then looked at the two older females, waiting for explanations as to why they were summoned.

“Okay, first of all, what is said in this room is to stay in this room. Understood?” Betty said to the teenage warriors and they quickly agreed.

“So, what’s going on?” Kim asked, speaking mostly to Shego because she was curious as to why Shego was there.

“Where to begin?” Betty sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“Let me handle it, Betty,” Shego volunteered and then she turned her attention to Will. “Here’s the extremely short version, Will-san. I’m in love with your fiancée and I’m going to spend the rest of my life with her, whether you like it or not and there’s no way for you to stop me.”

“Excuse me?” Will said and he turned to his aunt, hoping for a better explanation. One that did not seem so out of the blue to him and had details as to what this was all about.

“Spend the rest of your life with me?” Kim echoed, looking at Shego. She hoped that was the truth. 

“That’s right,” Shego assured the redhead while putting her arm around Kim’s slender waist. She was not letting her little kitsune get away from her. She definitely was not going to allow someone else to have Kim.

“Obasan (aunt)?” Will was totally confused and just waiting for Betty to jump in and explain everything. 

“Well, basically, Shego is in love with Kim-dono and as I’ve come to understand it the feeling is mutual,” Betty started and Kim cut in.

“It is,” Kim said in an assuring manner. She hoped her word was enough for Will to back off and not hold any stock in their engagement, so that she could be with her tenshi.

“Okay, as you can hear, it is returned. Shego has no intention of coming in between the family obligation that you both have to get married. As you know, our clan leaders won’t have it any other way, but she wants you to give her as much time with Kim as she wants, which includes sharing her bed,” Betty explained. 

“Then how would we complete the family obligation?” Will inquired in a puzzled tone. Of course being married was only the beginning. They were expected to produce children too, not that he looked forward to doing that with Kim either. He doubted anyone would ever understand just how deep his hatred for the olive-eyed samurai ran and he would never touch her in a way that could produce children. Kim probably would not let him touch her if he wanted to since she seemed to return his hatred full-force.

“Once a week Kim will share your bed,” Shego said to the young man.

“I will?” Kim jumped in with wide, horrified eyes. She did not recall agreeing to that and she damn sure had no intention of going through with it. She would cut his head off before allowing him to touch her in any kind of way that did not involve fighting and even when they were fighting, she was often trying to cut his head off. He just had a solid defense, which allowed him to keep his head. 

“You are going to have to sleep with him sometime, kitsune. You have to have children by the guy,” Shego pointed out. She was not very much in favor of the idea either, but they had family obligations to uphold and she knew Betty would not side with her if she tried to get them to go against their families’ wishes. 

Kim frowned. She did not like the idea much, but she supposed Shego was right. Well, it was better once a week than every night as it would have been if they were just married with no compromise occurring. She figured she would be able to endure that if it meant she could be with Shego for the rest of her life. Although when she glanced at Will, she had a feeling she would not even have to endure the once a week part of the deal. It would seem he wanted to touch her just as much as she wanted to touch him, which was good. They might be able to live through the marriage after all.

“And what do I get out of all of this?” Will asked. It seemed to him that he was getting screwed in the deal. 

“Oh, I forget that you Directors are very practical about things. You’ll bend the rules, but only when you get something in return,” Shego commented. 

Will nodded. It was a Director trait to be willing to do something wrong, as long as they were getting something out of it. He was not willing to just negotiate a wedding that he did not even want to take place without getting something in return. He would much rather continue to be at odds with that redheaded busybody until his grandfather realized he would rather freeze to death than mate with Kim. Although, he noticed their grandparents were not accepting the fact that they would rather slay each other than have sex together. 

“You can have the same deal,” Kim said, which throw off Will’s thoughts.

“Excuse me?” the male replied, as if he did not know what she meant.

“You can have the same. Look, Du-san, I’ve… well, okay, I’ve see you with Josh-kun,” Kim commented and what she was implying made Betty’s jaw drop. Too much information, Betty’s mind was screaming.

“You’ve seen me with who?” Will asked, his voice trembling ever so slightly. He was managing to look as if he had no clue what she meant, though. 

“I’ve seen you with Josh-kun. You know he’s good friends with me and Ron-kun. Sometimes, when we used to go to pick him up to do little nonsense things, we’d see you with him. You could be with him and I can be with Shego,” Kim stated. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Will objected, holding his head up as if he was offended by the very suggestion.

“Du-san,” Kim said in a stern tone.

“I don’t,” he insisted. 

“You don’t have to be ashamed just because Josh-kun is an artist and his status is beneath you,” Kim argued.

“I’m not,” Will huffed, glaring at her.

“Josh is handsome and intelligent. He offers great conversation,” Kim pointed out. After all, she and Ron were not friends with boring people. 

“Stop trying to talk like you know about it,” Will growled. He could not believe she would just bring up Josh and his status while his aunt was sitting right there, even though they were keeping what was said in the room in the room.

“Okay, kiddies, you’re time is up,” Shego commented because she could tell that things were just going to go downhill from there.

She also suspected she was going to have to keep talking since it looked like Betty had just learned more about her nephew than she needed to know. Beyond that, she never wanted to hear Kim mention someone was handsome ever again. So, she would handle this until Betty remembered how to talk.

“Look, Will, this is the compromise, take it or leave it. You can have Josh and I can have Kim and everybody goes home happy at the end of the day. Hell, if you two manage to have a kid out of all of this, even your grandparents will be happy and the world will be safe,” Shego said. 

Will thought on it for a long moment. “None of this leaves this room, right?” he asked and the ladies nodded. “Fine. We’ll get married in the spring then,” he agreed, sounding rather huffy about it.

“So soon?” Kim muttered and shivered in disgust.

“Might as well get it out of the way. But, I’m not sleeping with you that first night,” Will stated with an attitude. He doubted he was going to sleep with her at all. He was pretty sure all it would lead to would be him vomiting for the rest of the week.

“Fine by me,” Kim replied with just as much attitude. She was not going to let him touch her anyway and probably never would, even though they had just agreed to fulfill their obligations. She just could not bring herself to it. She so thoroughly detested Will that she would sooner kill herself than be touched by him. 

“Then it’s settled. See you then,” Will said as if that was an insult and then he got up and left. He hated being in a room with that girl.

“You didn’t know about Josh, huh?” Shego said to Betty. 

“I still don’t know about Josh. The last thing I need to know is about my father’s only grandson is having an affair with an artist. Is it a long term thing?” Betty asked Kim curiously, even though she could guess with the way her nephew had agreed to things.

“Well, I’ve known about it for about a year and a half now,” Kim replied and Betty looked like she was ready to have a heart attack. Well, it did explain something beyond the major problem he had with Kim as to why he was in no rush to get married.

“That’s not an affair. That’s a relationship,” Shego remarked.

“I wasn’t here for any of that. In fact, I wasn’t even here while you all had this discussion,” the one-eyed woman commented.

“You were with Vivian-san, huh?” Shego asked with a devilish smirk. 

“Yeah, keep that up and I’m not going to let you stay here,” Betty commented.

“Stay here?” Kim echoed in a curious tone, looking back and forth between the older warriors.

“Well, I’ve got to stay somewhere, unless you think your parents are ready to meet your kick-ass, green-as-hell, drop-dead-gorgeous female lover,” Shego pointed out with a bit of a laugh. 

Betty had agreed to let her stay at her home for the time being. They had not discussed how long that was going to be. They both figured they would have to work something else out once Kim and Will got married.

“I can see your point,” Kim replied with a smile.

“All right, see the point and you two can show yourselves out. I’ve got some place to be if I don’t want to lose my good eye,” Betty quipped as she stood up and exited the room, going back to Vivian.

As soon as Betty was gone, Kim flung herself onto Shego and embraced her tightly. The redhead sighed in great relief. Shego was solid, real, and very much not dead. Shego smiled and returned the hug. 

“I’m so happy you came back, tenshi,” Kim said, speaking into Shego’s kimono as she pressed herself into the older female. There were no words to express how good it felt to her to be with her beloved and for her to be alive.

“Of course I was coming back. I can’t just leave my kitsune alone in some gilded cage, right?” Shego replied with a warm smile. 

Kim did not respond to that. She leaned up and placed a passionate kiss on Shego’s tempting mouth. Shego wasted no time returning the show of affection, causing it to blaze brilliantly with endless love. The kiss declared things that words never could, as their feelings just could not be expressed verbally. It also proclaimed they would never be apart if it could be helped. They were going to be together forever now. They were free.

-8-8-8-8-

The end. An epilogue is on the way.

Bonus gallery pictures of Shego by two different artists. Please, leave all comments for the artists at deviantart.

[Shego - Honor Bound](http://s0ulasylum.deviantart.com/art/Shego-Honor-Bound-55516281) by [S0ulasylum](http://s0ulasylum.deviantart.com/)

[Honor Bound](http://kestinstewart.deviantart.com/art/Honor-Bound-72007146) by Kestinstewart


	32. Epilogue: Poetry in Motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.

Epilogue: Poetry in Motion

 _The small fox awakes_  

_in her bed — warm and green_

_She is mine forever_  

Kim sat in the doorway with her shamisen in her hands. She strummed the strings almost unconsciously and looked up on the dark, starlit sky. It was soothing and beautiful, the sky and the music. She had learned to appreciate the shamisen and its power.

She was dressed in a plain white yukata with her legs pressed together and bent at the knee, coming up to her side and leaving her comfortable curled up in the entryway. She felt at peace. Her fingers moved nimbly, commanding her instrument and making a melody that was soft and sweet, surprising for a woman who just got married a few months ago to a man that she thoroughly and utterly detested.

Kim had married Du Will. Neither of them really knew what they were going to do about the predicament they were in now, namely being married. It seemed like the logical thing to do since it was going to happen one day with the way their grandparents worked, but they really did not know what to make of it. After all, they still thoroughly despised each other. In fact, they seemed to resent each other more after the wedding, which they had consented to. Because they had agreed, it seemed weird to people that they would hate each other even more.

They now hardly even addressed each other when speaking. They would talk through someone else or just act like the other was not there. They now got into physical fights over space issues rather than from insults. They seemed to despise having the other within a certain amount of inches and if there was a chance that they might brush up against each other, then there was a chance for swords to clash. The new hostilities might have stemmed from them being at a loss as to what they should do in a marriage, even if they had no plans to do what was expected of them beyond getting married. They just did not like the concept, even if they were not going to be doing what married couples do. 

The wedding did not make much sense to most of the people that knew them. Stoppable Ron’s exact words were “this is the very definition of wrong-sick!” in his usual excitable fashion. His wife, Yori was only less candid by wondering whose funeral they would be attending in the upcoming weeks; she leaned toward Will’s because she had seen enough fights between the pair to know Kim could take Will down with the proper motivation. Sharing a marital bed had to be proper motivation for Kim, Yori thought.

The pair’s parents were more than a little baffled by their offspring suddenly agreeing with the marriage arrangement. They were also suspicious of it, each side making sure the other was not plotting a death. They were so suspicious that the Possibles objected with Kim going to live in the Du home and the Director/Du families objected to Will living with the Possibles. There was a simple solution worked out, which both Kim and Will liked, which was that they would live in Betty’s home.

It was agreed that the newlyweds would stay at Betty’s house, everyone agreeing Betty was sort of a neutral party. Well, she was the most neutral among them anyway. She also had plenty of room in her home since she had never had any children due to the fact that her husband had died early on in their marriage. Betty acted like she had never been married as soon as that happened, never having any love for the man she had been promised to anyway.

She opened her home to Will and Kim, though. She did not mind having them around because she liked both of them. There was also the fact she wanted both of them to live long lives and she could make sure that happened by keeping an eye on them and preventing them from slaughtering each other. Her other guest also helped in keeping the “couple” from destroying each other.

Kim was currently at her new home, sitting outside of her bedroom. The room opened up into a wonderful garden that was in the manor. There were other advantages to the room; the main one being that it was as far away from her husband’s room as possible while still being on the property. Yes, she and Will had different quarters in the house on total opposite ends of the manor and they preferred it when they both stayed on their designated sides. It meant that they would not see each other, except for the few times the whole household took meals together. That was exceptionally rare because even then, Kim and Will managed to get into battles. So, really, everyone preferred it when they stayed on their proper sides of the house because it kept things peaceful and fewer things got broken.

“Hey, little kitsune. You’re still playing for me?” Shego asked with a yawn as she crawled over to Kim. She embraced the redhead from behind, which allowed Kim to continue to play and the samurai played on.

Kim only smiled. of course, she was still playing the shamisen for Shego. She only played for her lover. It had a soothing effect on Shego and helped her relax, along with the occasional bottle of sake. Kim had been strumming the shamisen to help her lover unwind, which led to the pale woman taking a nap.

Shego and Kim stayed in the same quarters in the house, even though there were threats coming from Betty that she might have to throw Shego out. Shego had the bad habit of teasing Betty a great deal of the time and the one-eyed woman did not appreciate it. They were both certain the threats were mostly idle, though.

Shego made herself comfortable against Kim, resting her head on Kim’s shoulder. She sighed, a content sound as she listened to the music and eyed the sky. She had never felt so at peace in all of her life as she had the past few months living under the same roof as Kim, and sharing a bed with her too was a bonus. The best part of it was that she was not sharing Kim like she thought she might have to. Will never showed up to take Kim to share his bed so that they could consummate their marriage. 

“Did you sleep well?” Kim asked.

“I would’ve slept better if you curled your little butt up against me,” Shego replied.

“I wanted to look at the sky.”

“It is lovely and I suppose you can curl up to me later tonight.” Shego was the only person Kim would ever curl up to, they were both certain of that.

It was quite clear that Will and Kim were never going to consummate their marriage, even though both families were waiting for offspring from the union. Unfortunately, Kim and Will avoided each other as often as possible and if they came into contact in the house, they ignored each other or fought. 

On the rare occasions they came into contact with each other in the outside world, they tried to ignore each other, unless they were on a mission. Being on a mission made things business as usual for Will and Kim with him trying to act superior to her and she would set out to prove that he was actually the inferior one. People were still waiting for one of them to kill the other when they were out on missions, but Betty tried to the best of her ability to not have Kim and Will on the same assignment when she commissioned Kim’s assistance. Still, they sometimes accidentally met up due to Kim doing a mission for someone else and she would run into Will or he would run into her and a mess would ensue.

Depending on her mood and what was going on, Shego would help Betty out by going out on assignments, too. Without having that to do, Shego would undoubtedly drink her days away with money she collected from her few years in the underworld. Well, she would probably drink and read since Shego had quite the love for stories and poetry. She mostly read when she was left alone, which she liked every now and then like most people. Kim easily understood that since she sometimes needed time to herself, too. 

When they were not on missions, Kim and Shego were often together, sparring, training, reading, or doing some other thing. Kim still went out with her friends and Shego was not very interested in going out with all of them. So, when Kim was gone that was when Shego took time to enjoy her time alone. 

“Are you going to do another poem for me?” Kim asked. She had a collection of fans that Shego had written her love poems on. Things like that worked as incentive to get Kim to play the shamisen for Shego. Not that she minded playing anymore, but she would never tell Shego that.

“Not tonight.” 

Kim let a pout play on her lips. “But, you asked me to play and I’ve played all night.” 

Shego smiled and kissed Kim’s cheek. “Because you’re my amazing little kitsune.” 

Kim scoffed. “You’re just saying that because you want to get out of writing me a poem.”

“We should do something fun,” Shego replied with a devilish smile on her face that Kim noticed out of the corner of her eye. This was just a blatant misdirect to get out of the conversation. 

“You’re not getting off that easy.”

“Yes, I am. So, we should do something fun.” 

“Like what?” Kim asked, rolling her eyes. She could guess what her lover meant about since they were in the house by themselves. Will was out on a mission and Betty had “gone out” without explaining where she was going. Shego guessed Betty went to go see Vivian since she had not been by the blond’s place in a few weeks.

“Let’s go out on the town, Princess. This is Edo. There’s a million things to do and you’re trying to keep me sleeping by playing this soft song,” Shego commented while putting her hands on Kim’s hands to get her to stop playing the shamisen, which was different.

Usually, Shego was all for hearing her lover play all night. Olive eyes went wide and Kim’s fell open mouth slightly. The pale woman chuckled just a bit from her beloved’s expression and could not help placing a light kiss to Kim’s partially opened mouth. The kiss seemed to snap the samurai out of her stupor. 

“Is that all right?” the redhead inquired as if she expected something to go wrong if they went out together. The idea never would have popped into her head if only Shego had not proposed it before kissing her. 

“What do you mean? You don’t want to be seen with me, kitsune?” the pale woman teased, nipping her love’s neck to add to her tone. She smiled against her mate’s warm flesh, which was not helping Kim think straight at all.

Kim giggled a bit before answering. “It’s not that and you know it. What if someone sees us out together?” 

“So? It’s not like we’re wearing signs that says ‘I’m fucking her,’“ Shego remarked with a slight laugh.

Kim did not seem to be expecting such hard language and went stiff from shock for a brief second. She turned to face her lover for Shego to see that she did not appreciate the line. Shego continued to look amused because she had given that response to show Kim how ridiculous her mind was working at the moment. They were just going out, like any friends would do when they were bored, as they had done on several occasions.

“I can see your point on that,” Kim conceded. She realized just how silly she was being by assuming people would know that they were lovers. Her mind just was not working as properly as it should because Shego was kissing and caressing her, and such things made it very hard to remain rational.

No one knew what she and Shego were to each other. Well, no one except them, Betty, and Will. They were not going to risk telling anyone else, even Kim’s closest friends or Kim’s parents. It was not Kim did not trust those closest to her, but she did not want to burden them with such news and a secret was best kept between the fewest amount of people. Besides, everyone who knew, they had dirt on, too, so it was sort of just assurance all around.

Hego did not count because he did not acknowledge he had been present for the conversation where his sister told him what was going on. He did not even know Shego lived with Betty at this point. Shego had not told her other brothers, but she kept in touch with them. 

Shego had told Kim about her relatives, going so far as to introduce Kim to her brothers. This was during a banquet Hego had been kind enough to invite his sister to. Ever since she came back to Edo, Hego had been trying to get Shego involved with some things at his court, but she was not interested in much. She knew he was only trying to keep tabs on her and the way he kept introducing her to bachelor nobles, she knew what he was really doing.

She took Hego up on the feast offers because she liked going out with Kim. It was just rare that they got to do it. She was also able to stay away from Hego in a banquet, but he tried to speak with her, which was a surefire way send her off earlier than she planned.

Kim was a bit surprised to find out that Shego was the sister of the Shogun, but she did not make a big deal out of it, which pleased Shego. Kim had also introduced Shego to her family. They came across as good friends to the Possibles, even though Shego seemed a little rough around the edges to the noble family. Shego liked Kim’s family for the most part. She could tell that her mannerisms made them a little uncomfortable, but they were polite and friendly toward her for the most part. They made her feel very welcomed, which she could not say the same about her family when it came to Kim because Hego and Mego both had the habits of acting snobby. 

The Wegos were quite friendly toward Kim, though since they could tell that she was someone important to their big sister, but they never did figure out how important. They probably would have dismissed the idea if they ever got the right one anyway. Shego was pleased they made an effort and expressed as much, which caused her little brothers to grin and inform her that they were just happy that she had a friend.

“So, we’re going out?” Shego asked. 

“Sure. Let’s go out,” Kim agreed with a smile.

The couple got up from and got ready to go out. There were a million things to do in Edo, at least a million in Shego’s opinion. With the way she found different activities, Kim was inclined to believe her. They would find something to hold their attention.

They put on some hakama as usual; black for Shego and red for Kim. And then they donned their tops, a plain green kimono for Shego while Kim had a pink kimono with a flower design on. Shego shook her head when she saw Kim. The samurai was just about the only person she had ever seen mix plain hakama with elaborately designed kimonos.

Even though the fashion was odd, Shego thought it looked good on her little kitsune. It somehow fit Kim, in her lover’s opinion anyway. Maybe there was something about seeing Kim in flowers that sparked such thoughts on how the outfit was right for the redhead. Flowers could be wild and when they were in bloom, they were always beautiful, just like her princess was to her. 

“Ready?” Shego asked. 

“For you, always,” Kim replied with a smirk.

Shego’s heart thumped heavy in her chest. “You little kitsune. Come on.”

Kim chuckled as Shego put her arm around Kim’s waist. The two then went out for a night on the town. There was theater, dinner, and even some drinking and gambling. Shego was determined to get her kitsune a vice and she was pushing for it to be dice because Kim was either very lucky or skilled at the came of chance. It was just that Kim would only play if prodded enough by Shego. Shego talked Kim into playing that night and they walked away several ryo (1) richer.

They did not go out as often as they should, in Shego’s opinion anyway. They did have a good time staying in, being around each other and sparring, but they needed to go out every few days in Shego’s opinion. She made a mental note to try talking her princess into going out to plays more often. It was a little difficult to get the redhead to go out because she mostly liked to practice her martial arts when she had spare time.

After a long night of hanging out with some questionable characters in a gambling den, the couple returned to a silent house. They were not surprised that Betty was not back. There was a heavy chance Betty would not be back until the sun rose. They doubted Will would be back anytime soon either since he often visited Josh when he got back from missions long before going home. The couple really did not care where Will spent his evenings or if he never came home. Life was generally quieter without the stubborn warrior.

Sometimes, when she was very bored and had nothing better to do with her time, Shego wondered what Kim and Will would do with themselves. They knew their clans were waiting for children to come from the marriage, but they had no plans on delivering. She knew better than to ask or even bring the topic up. Betty assumed Kim and Will were still actually waiting their grandparents out, hoping to get the heads of their clans to just give up on them. Betty would put money on Kim and Will if anyone brought up a bet. Shego would bet on Kim and Will, too, but mostly because it was in her own interest and also she knew Kim could be pretty stubborn if given the chance.

The couple staggered into their bedroom. Kim was trying to hold up the slightly intoxicated Shego. The redhead was only in somewhat better shape thanks to her beloved insistent on her taking a few sips of sake herself. Shego was such a bad influence, the samurai thought. Shego knew she was not the best example for Kim, but she felt like her kitsune needed to have some fun in life.

Kim released her lover gently onto the wooden deck of their room and turned to slide the door shut. As soon as Kim closed the shoji, Shego started trouble. She pulled Kim down to the floor with her and practically forced a kiss on the redhead, not that Kim was going to complain. The olive-eyed female returned the passionate display with just as much fire as her lover.

“You taste good mixed with sake,” Shego remarked in a quiet tone. She was a bit mellowed out thanks to the drinking, which might have explained why she did not mind being underneath her lover. 

“Well, you should get your fill because I’m not going to drink anymore,” Kim replied with a teasing smile. She was not a drinker and had no plans to change, no matter how much Shego tried to goad her.

“You say that all the time and I get you to drink anyway. You’ve got to lighten up, Princess. Life is here to be enjoyed,” the older warrior commented and she took a nip at her love’s exposed neck.

“Trust me, I am so enjoying it,” Kim replied, fighting back a moan. 

Shego smiled against the peach-colored skin against her mouth. Kim seemed to be enjoying things and not thinking about the trouble that was ahead. She knew sooner or later, she would have to deal with her grandmother for the simple fact that she was not going to ever reproduce with Will. Usually, she folded to her grandmother’s very powerful will, but she just could not and would not do that now. She was not sure what her punishment, if any, would be, but she would take it over what her grandmother wanted from her.

At the moment, Kim and Will fed their grandparents excuses as to why Kim was not with child yet. But, their grandparents were quite impatient. The “couple” talked about being away on missions often, which Betty backed since it was sort of the truth. Betty knew she was playing a very high-stacks game of chance by confirming such lies, but she could not help it. She understood where they were both coming from, even though she wished they would at least try to get along with each other.  And maybe even try to produce an heir, just to cement the alliance between the clans.

Kim did not want to think about that and did not have much of a choice the matter since her mind just focused on Shego, who was kissing and biting Kim’s neck and shoulders, which were on display. At some point, Shego had pushed Kim’s kimono aside. Kim ended up hissing in pleasure and she writhed a bit against her lover, which made Shego chuckle. She knew later on when she brought up that the samurai actually writhed, Kim would deny the charges, as she always did.

“You taste so good, hime,” Shego hissed, dragging her tongue across sweet flesh.

Shego kept her mouth on Kim while reaching down to untie Kim’s obi. Kim seemed to be lost in the feel of her lover and was not thinking of doing anything on her own aside from feel good. Shego did not mind that at the moment since all she wanted was more flesh to taste and touch. 

The super-powered woman quickly yanked Kim’s obi away and pulled open her kimono completely. Tender, but eager hands wandered Kim’s soft, but muscular body while Kim started kicking off her hakama. The samurai could not get the bottoms off quick enough in both of their opinions. It was not long before Kim was nude, not to mention a moaning pile of flesh on top of Shego.

Shego smiled to herself while making sure to keep her mouth on some part of Kim’s body, any part would do. Her hands continued to fondly caress her lover. She was using a very low plasma charge while doing that and the heat made Kim quiver and quake above her.

“Shego,” Kim groaned low in her throat. She was now unable to keep herself up and just collapsed on top of her beloved, which the older warrior did not mind. 

“Yes, my little princess?” Shego inquired before going in for a bite at Kim’s shoulder, causing Kim to hiss in pleasure.

“Please…” Kim begged through clenched teeth. 

“Please what?” Shego asked, even though she knew. She just liked to tease her little kitsune, especially if it might lead to Kim saying something dirty.

“Please…” 

“You have to tell me, kitsune,” Shego said in a whisper of a voice before moving on to kiss her way down Kim’s throat.

“Touch me,” Kim pled, speaking in a desperate whisper. 

“Touch you? I am touching you,” Shego pointed out. She was kneading every bit of flesh she could get her hands on, as usual. She also tasted every piece of skin that her mouth could reach, whether she was kissing, biting, or licking. So, she was definitely touching her little troublesome fox.

“Touch me,” Kim repeated, her voice more forceful than before, coming out as a growled command rather than a whined plea. 

The sound of Kim’s voice sent a ripple of pleasure through Shego. “How would like me to touch you, kistune?”

“In the way that only you can,” Kim answered in a breath. 

Shego smiled, happy to oblige and happy to hear such words. She was the only one who had ever or would ever touch Kim in such ways. She was the only one who had ever or would ever know the joy of being intimate with her adorable princess. Just the thought of it was utterly pleasing, but the reality of it was fantastic.

“You know I will,” Shego replied before kissing Kim on the lips and giving her lover just what she wanted.

Kim arched into Shego’s touch and let out a long cry of bliss as her love finally gave into her desires. The sound broke their kiss and Shego pulled back a little, wanting to take in Kim’s expression. She looked wonderful, caught in ecstasy, enjoying Shego.

Shego got caught up in watching as Kim moved against her as if it was the most fascinating sight a person could experience. Shego delighted in seeing Kim move over her, which was one reason why it never really bothered her to be below Kim. It was a good thing Kim did move over her or nothing much would be going on at the moment since she was stuck practically gawking. 

“Oh, Shego,” Kim moaned. The sound made Shego throb and took her out of her mesmerized state.

“You feel so good,” Shego mumbled, free hand wondering to Kim’s breast.

Kim moaned again as Shego flicked her nipple with her thumb. Shego groaned and Kim moved with more purpose. Her body hugged Shego, who adjusted her fingers a little, so that her palm also pressed against Kim. The added pleasure caused Kim to cry out even more. 

The olive-eyed samurai leaned down and kissed Shego sweetly. Shego returned the kiss with white-hot passion, causing Kim to have to do the same. The intense embrace silently screamed both sentiment and possession, stating as facts “I love you” and “you’re mine.” They both accepted that; it was what they wanted.

The kiss was broken as Kim shuddered above Shego before collapsing unceremoniously onto her beloved. Kim panted hard and rested on Shego as if she was a futon. She placed a long, wet kiss to Shego’s throat since she was close to that tempting area. After a few seconds of panting, Kim began caressing her lover and realized something.

“You’re very overdressed, tenshi,” the younger warrior whispered. 

“Are you going to do something about that?” Shego inquired with a half-smirk on her face. 

Kim only grinned; the expression seemed slightly inappropriate for the moment they were in. The redhead picked herself up and quickly relieved her lover of her obi. Shego’s clothing rapidly followed, joining Kim’s attire in a pile by the door. The energized samurai then enthusiastically attacked the almost ethereal flesh underneath her. Shego expected the vigor that Kim hit her with, but she still ended up gasping because of the sheer delight that shot through her because of Kim’s wonderful hands and mouth. 

“You’re so amazing,” Shego muttered as Kim’s mouth descended down her torso.

“Just trying to keep up with you,” Kim replied before slipping her fingers between Shego’s legs.

Shego ended up mumbling to the ceiling as Kim worked on her. Kim knew exactly what spots she needed to pay attention to for Shego to end up just a green mess of goo underneath her, but she actually danced around those areas. It was pay back for her lover teasing her a few minutes ago.

“Princess… don’t be this way,” Shego pled, knowing why Kim was only coming close to her sensitive spots and not touching them completely. It was so evil of her kitsune to be spiteful at such a time, she thought.

“Be patient, tenshi,” Kim replied with a smile.

Shego snorted. She was not the patient one in the relationship and she did not want to be either. She started pulling at her mate and pushing her to where she wanted the redhead to be. Kim resisted, but she gave in after a little while because she was not as amused with tormenting her lover as Shego was when it came to her.

The pale woman moaned and groaned, moving into Kim’s deep, darling caresses as those slender fingers did everything she liked right where she liked them. Kim’s lips and tongue played with both of her breasts for a while, but she needed more. She bit into her lip once Kim kissed her way down her body. She inhaled deeply as her legs were suddenly on Kim’s shoulders. The redhead certainly was not shy about anything anymore. 

“Princess,” Shego whimpered, hips moving with Kim’s hands and tongue. She was so talented and Shego felt like she did not know what to do with herself.

Tears actually gathered in Shego’s eyes from the heavenly feeling flooding through her system. Her hand fell to Kim’s hair and she ran her fingers through the orange mane as delight consumed her. Her body moved with Kim until she felt like a great wave of pleasure hit her. 

“Oh!” Shego groaned as her body was lost in everything that was Kim. 

Shego shuddered and fell against the floor, breathing as if she had just come ashore from nearly drowning. She would have taken her time recovering if Kim did not do something she just could not resist; Kim licked her lips. Shego doubted there was anything sexier than that action, so she shot up and placed a zealous kiss to Kim’s mouth. 

Shego practically crawled over Kim to end up on top of the petite redhead, slipping her thigh in between Kim’s legs. The kiss continued on with just as much energy as it had been started with. They both moaned as they felt delicious skin contact. They trembled together before they started grinding against each other at the same time.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Kim were hugged up on their futon. The shoji that opened out to the garden was slightly ajar to let some air in, mostly for Shego, who was on the side facing the door for that purpose. The couple was covered with a thin blanket, which was how they typically slept. They were still awake at the moment, even though they were both rather exhausted.

They enjoyed the silence and closeness they experienced, as if they were the only two people on the planet. The feeling allowed them to not have to worry about the future. They still took everything day by day, as they had when they were first traveling back to Edo. They did that because there were still challenges ahead of them and even though they believed strongly they could and would overcome anything put in their path, they still preferred not to think about those things. They would worry about the future when it was the present.

Besides, nothing could touch them in their opinions as long as they were together. They really doubted they had to worry about the future because they were such a force. They would rather think about how good the other felt when they were pressed together. They were so content that they never would have believed that it was possible if they were not able to experience. It had to be heaven, which would explain the angel next to her, Kim thought.

“Tenshi,” Kim whispered. 

“Hmm?” Shego replied.

“I love you.”

“I know you do,” Shego remarked, earning a laugh from her beloved. She had to smile some herself. “I feel the same way, kitsune. I love you and I always will.”

Kim smiled and cuddled closer to Shego, not that it was really possible considering how close they were already. Shego leaned down and delivered one more kiss to her love’s mouth. It was soft and sweet and returned as such. And, the lovers continued to lie there, to be together forever and always.

The End.

-8-8-8-8-

1: ryo: I’m pretty sure it’s what the gold coins of the day were called.

-8-8-8-8-

For a little side story back into this universe, read [Honor Bound: Tea Time](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5470475?view_full_work=true).

-8-8-8-8- 

A special thanks to my betas Mouse and Laura25, who made this the best possible story it could be. Thank you both. For now, I'm returning to my padded room. Hopefully, I'll be back and so will you. Thanks again. I appreciate the support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: okay, so, if you spotted anything wrong with this, let me know. I want the story to be enjoyable and halfway accurate, even though it’s a strange blend for me with history and the KP universe.


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